No. 2 Fresno State (21-8, 13-3 MWC) vs. No. 7 Boise State (11-18, 4-12 MWC)
Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas
Radio: ESPN2 790 AM
The lowdown
In Bulldogs coach Raegan Pebley’s first year, Fresno State is sittingamong the top of the Mountain West Conference’s top teams in the tournament. The Bulldogs, top-seeded San Diego State and No. 3 Wyoming are the only schools that concluded the regular with winning records.
Fresno State faces a Broncos team it easily handled in the regular season. In the teams’ first meeting at the Save Mart Center, Fresno State forced 18 steals en route to a 70-57 win.
Four Bulldogs scored in double figures (Rosie Moult finished with 21 points and Ki-Ki Moore scored 22) against the Broncos at Taco Bell Arena.
But the Bulldogs’ road to the conference title will presumably get tougher in the semifinals — where they are likely to play third-seeded Wyoming (it faces Colorado State in the quarterfinals). Fresno State split its regular-season series with the Cowgirls.
Fresno State — which won its final four games, a streak that included its second win over the Broncos — enters the Mountain West tournament with momentum.
The Bulldogs finished the season possibly grabbing one of its most decisive conference win with its 90-64 victory over UNLV in their regular-season finale.
Bulldogs cash in conference honors
Four Bulldogs earned conference honors on Monday. Moore, who earned first-team All-Mountain West honors, also was named the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year.
Rosie Moult was a second-team all-conference selection, and junior Taylor Thompson and sophomore Alex Sheedy each earned All-Mountain West third-team honors.