Fresno State women best top seed for return trip to MW Tournament Final

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The Fresno State women's basketball team is heading back to the Mountain West Tournament final after beating #1 New Mexico 77-72. They await the winner of #7 Wyoming and #6 Boise State with an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on the line.

The Bulldogs fell to Boise State in overtime 80-76 in the title game a year ago but swept the season with the Broncos at home in January.

In a game that was all offense, it was a defensive play that defined the game. Leading 73-72 in the final 30 seconds, Hanna Cavinder came away with the game-saving steal. That was followed by Aly Gamez hitting free throws to ice the game.

After beating #5 Nevada 70-46 in the quarterfinals, the Dogs readied to face top-seeded New Mexico. FS split their series with the Lobos in January playing at a neutral location in Canyon, Texas.

For the second straight year, Fresno State has a Bulldog tabbed Mountain West Player of the Year, with sophomore Haley Cavinder receiving the honor on Sunday. A team-high 22 points helped her surpass 1,000 career points in just 57 games, becoming the fastest Bulldog to surpass 1k career points.

Her twin sister, Hanna, was also named to the all-conference team, with last year's Player of the Year, Maddi Utti, named as a MW honorable mention.

The championship game is set to tip at 8:00 PM on CBS Sports Network.