Chasing Greatness
There is a lot at stake for Boise State women’s basketball head coach Gordy Presnell at the 2026 Credit Union 1 Mountain West Women’s Basketball Championship.
For starters, this team is special. This tournament, which begins Saturday, March 7, marks the last chance to make a run at a conference crown for the four storied seniors on the roster. Dani Bayes, Mya Hansen, Natalie Pasco and Tatum Thompson - the only foursome in the country that has each scored at least 1,000 career points at the same institution - will compete in their last MW Tournament.
In 2024, the Broncos reached the semifinal round of the tournament. Last season, Boise State held a lead over top-seeded UNLV for the majority of the game before falling late in the quarterfinal round. With one more chance, this foursome has something to prove.
Secondly, it’s the last time the Blue and Orange will compete in the MW Tournament. Next season, Presnell and the Broncos will face off in the revamped Pac-12. Presnell, who has coached the program during its entire MW tenure, enters his final ride in the conference with 21 MW tournament wins, one shy of the record held by Don Flanagan (New Mexico; 1999-2011). Presnell is the only active MW coach who has coached his entire tenure in the MW.
Anyone that knows Presnell knows he doesn't care about the record. And if there's anyone that can make a run in Las Vegas, it's the coach with five MW titles under his name.
“The intensity level is so high,” Presnell said. “It’s more physical than normal. Throughout the years, it’s gotten more and more intense. You have to have a feeling of togetherness. As a group, you have to let the last possession go. The teams that don’t have struggles because the tournament is so intense.”
Presnell’s fifth-seeded Broncos (23-8) face off against No. 12 San Jose State on Saturday, March 7 at 3:30 p.m. MT.
Mountain West Greatness
Presnell joined the Broncos as their sixth head coach in program history prior to the 2005-06 season. Presnell guided the team through their final six seasons in the WAC, including an NCAA National Tournament appearance in just his second season at the helm.
Conference realignment pushed the Broncos into the MW prior to the 2011-12 season, finishing 15-16 in their first year as members of the eight-team league. Boise State earned a No. 6 seed in the tournament, setting up a matchup with the third-seeded Colorado State in what would be Presnell’s first MW Tournament game.
The Broncos led 66-63 with 40 seconds left in the contest, needing one defensive stop to claim the upset victory. Senior Heather Pilcher delivered, converting a steal for a layup to clinch a win for the Broncos. It was the first MW Tournament victory in Presnell’s career.
“That was a good day,” Presnell said. “I remember how great that feeling was when we won that first one against Colorado State. It was awesome.”
Boise State failed to claim another tournament victory over the next two seasons, falling in its opening game both times. Things would shift at the 2015 tournament.
The Broncos had an extremely talented roster heading into the 2014-15 campaign but hadn’t quite managed to put it all together. After a late season loss to New Mexico, some of the underclassmen on the team called a players-only meeting. The rest is history.
The squad entered the tournament as the No. 4 seed, earning a first-round bye. Boise State took down No. 5 UNLV in the quarterfinals, before toppling the No. 8 seed San Jose State to claim a spot in the title game against New Mexico. The Lobos were the higher seed and held an advantage from a crowd perspective, but they were no match for the rejuvenated group. Boise State led the entire game to win its first MW crown, 66-60.
“They were calling it ‘Lobo North’ or something like that in the facility because of how well New Mexico’s fans travel," Presnell said. "It was an unbelievable moment of relief to be able to pull that off. Brooke Pahukoa, Deanna Weaver and Yaiza Rodriguez were just tremendous. We were just a loaded team. We played great basketball, had a lot of talent and had great leadership from our players.”
What followed was an unprecedented tournament run by Presnell’s squads. After falling in the quarterfinals the following year, the Broncos responded by rattling off four consecutive conference tournament titles, cementing Presnell as one of the greatest coaches in conference history.
“It was a great run with great kids. Those groups progressed so much. We had a great nucleus and then had some awesome additions that joined us. I bet we had three players that were in the top 100 in the country. We went on a roll and they were just really fun to coach.”Gordy Presnell
Though the program’s ultimate goal of winning a MW Championship remained steady, a new milestone stood in the distance: winning the program’s first NCAA Tournament game. In 2015, Boise State came back from down 15 to be within one possession against No. 2 Tennessee before ultimately falling. In 2019, the Broncos suffered a heartbreaking 80-75 overtime loss to Oregon State.
The 2019-20 team was littered with upperclassmen and seemed poised to make good on the side quest of winning a national tournament game. However, the COVID-19 pandemic put an unfortunate and dramatic end to the run. After winning the program’s fourth consecutive conference crown and another spot in the national tournament, the NCAA canceled the event due to the pandemic.
“That was probably our most talented team,” Presnell said. “The NCAA tournament hadn’t been good to us. We had some close games, lost in overtime in one of them. That was a bummer to not be able to compete that year. We were motivated to perform well and we didn’t get the chance.”
The Core Four
The pandemic coincided with the loss of a strong senior class, forcing the program to rebuild. The program had already found centerpieces in Elodie Lalotte, Abby Muse and Mary Kay Naro, a trio that earned significant minutes as freshmen during the 2020-21 campaign. The team had a rare down year in 2021-22, finishing 8-21 on the season.
Enter the ‘Core Four’. Bayes, Hansen, Pasco and Thompson (not to be confused with current freshman Kierra Thompson, who is on pace to have a stellar career with the Blue and Orange). Each one came from a different place, with a different background and a lot of potential. All immediately found playing time during their freshmen campaigns. Hansen became the first freshman to score over 30 points in program history, notching 31 against BYU in one of her first games donning the Blue and Orange. Bayes and Pasco were named members of the MW All-Freshmen team. Thompson, who suffered an injury in a preseason scrimmage, decided to forgo a redshirt season to try and help the team compete. The Woodinville, Wash., native played her first game as a Bronco at the start of league play.
The team, mixed with both veterans and a talented freshmen group, finished a game above .500 their first year playing together. The next season, the Broncos – mostly consisting of the same roster – ended up on the wrong side of a three-way tiebreaker to earn a No. 6 seed. After decimating Utah State, the group upended No. 3 Wyoming in the quarterfinals. The squad was down three with a chance to tie it at the buzzer in the semifinal matchup against San Diego State but failed to convert.
Last season – the final one with Lalotte, Muse and Naro - the group trumped Nevada in the opening game before facing off against top seed and three-time defending champion, UNLV. The Broncos held a lead for a majority of the game, before a late run by the Lady Rebels pushed the squad to defeat.
Days after the loss, the quartet made a commitment to stick together. The foursome met as a group, reaffirming their commitment to the program and coming up with a strategy to prepare for their upcoming final ride in the MW.
Their solution? A new team motto: built. A reminder that are a multitude of ways a team can improve throughout the season.
“We have the foundation, the cement and all the resources,” Bayes said prior to the season. “Now it’s about building up from that. It’s built through habits, built in the weight room, built to trust and built to last.”
The motto, forged by the ‘Core Four’, has led to a successful season. Boise State enters the tournament with a 23-8 record. The Broncos garnered 14 MW wins, the most since 2018-19, and has 23 victories, the most since 2019-20.
Individually, Thompson averages 14.4 points and 7.1 rebounds on 47.3% shooting. Pasco (270 3-pointers) and Bayes (209 3-pointers) each moved into the program’s top 5 in career long balls while averaging 11.7 and 9.0 points, respectively. Hansen is up to 364 career assists to move into seventh all-time, including a career-high 10 on senior night.
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— Boise State Women’s Basketball (@BroncoSportsWBB) February 27, 2026
Boise State tops the nation with the most active 1,000-point scorers who each scored every point at the same program!#BleedBlue | #WhatsNext pic.twitter.com/ltGSnSEg37
Presnell points the success of the season to how the quartet stepped up as leaders.
“They took a massive step forward in their leadership this year,” Presnell said. “Dani and Mya have been consistent throughout the whole year and that’s hard to do. Natalie and Tatum do a fantastic job of leading by example. Leadership is hard and they’ve all done that. I will miss them. I will miss their work ethic. They have a great desire to win.”
The foursome’s leadership has been crucial in the development of Libby Hutton, who has joined them in the starting lineup. Averaging 10.2 points and 6.2 rebounds a game entering the MW title, Hutton has been a critical piece to the team’s success this year.
“They’ve aided us in the development of Libby,” Presnell said. “She fits right in with them and respects them. She’s been outstanding.”
The four seniors have been through a lot together. They developed in the same gym with the same coaches together. They’ve gone through injuries together. They’ve gone through big wins together and sat in locker rooms after tough losses. They’ve done the early morning workouts, the long practices and the brutal film sessions together. They’ve unfortunately gone through tragedy together. That togetherness set the tone.
“Something about them that doesn’t happen in this day and age at all is that they like each other. They think that each one of them is good,” Presnell said. “That’s really hard. You’re going through this experience and there’s always someone out there, maybe an enabler or friend, that suggests that you should be getting more shots than a certain teammate. We’ve never had to deal with any of that sort of stuff with these four. They all respect each other and they all like each other.”
One Last MW Run
Throughout the season, one thing has been very clear. This team has one goal in Vegas: win. For the four seniors, it marks their final opportunity to claim the title, and they have shown a willingness to do whatever it takes to succeed in their last attempt.
To win the championship, Boise State will have to win four games in four days, all against top-notch teams. To prepare, the coaching staff divides scouting responsibilities, devising a system where each coach is responsible for three to four teams. That preparation is imperative when you have less than 24 hours to shift gears and prepare for another opponent.
“There is an unbelievable diversity of style of play in the Mountain West,” Presnell said. “It’s probably different than most conferences. You may play a team that’s going to shoot 30 3-pointers, then you’ll play that’s going to take 25 seconds off the clock and control the pace the next night. All of sudden the possessions become so important. You have teams that are post-heavy and then other teams that are finesse. You just have to make adjustments really quickly as a team and have a coaching staff that is extremely prepared no matter who you play. I’ve been blessed with both during my career.”
The intensity of the tournament can always present a challenge to those who have never experienced it before. With a starting five that is aptly familiar with the environment, that part shouldn’t pose a problem.
“I personally find the intensity part fun,” Presnell said. “Some people don’t, but I find that the part that wants me to keep coming back all the time. I love the intensity of the games, the intensity of the moments and the drama of basketball. When you have the kind of kids that love those moments as well, you usually do pretty well in the tournament. The ones that miss a shot and get a little frustrated, they typically don’t do well in a win or die situation.”
So what’s it going to take to end the Mountain West tenure with a trophy? Presnell would like to claim his past experiences will help this year’s group, but in his mind, the reality is that anything can happen at the MW Tournament. He credits the vast majority of the past successes the Broncos have experienced in Sin City to the camaraderie of the players.
“We’ve had a great year,” Presnell said. “The reality is that when you get there, you want to perform at the level you know you can and play hard. You want the team to play their game and feel good about our play. There’s a lot of variables - a call here, a call there, a sprained ankle here – whatever. I just want them to play the game at as high of a level as they can. That’s our goal. The highest ceiling this team has is a championship. We’ll see where the chips lay.”
“You want to get on a roll and you want to believe,” Presnell said. “You want to have the feeling that you’re going to throw everything we have at our opponent.
The Broncos will begin their tournament campaign against No. 12 San Jose State on Saturday, March 7 at 3:30 p.m. MT. Fans can tune in on the MW Network.