Wednesday night’s game at Boise State was a back and forth battle that featured a photo finish ending and a much needed victory for the CSU women’s basketball team.

CSU entered halftime with a one point edge and experienced seven different lead changes before pulling the win out 57-56 on a game-winning jumper knocked down by Hayley Thompson.

“All we had to do was get a rebound to win the game, and we didn’t and they did,” Boise State coach Gordy Presnell said. “They kept playing, and we became spectators. The victory goes to them.”

The Rams broke their slow starting habit with the offensive effort from junior forward Sam Martin.

Martin got CSU off on the right foot by hitting back-to-back buckets from behind the arch to begin the game.

“I was feeling it,” Martin said. “We went in there with the right mindset of getting this thing off to a great start.”

After snagging the early lead, CSU held it all the way through the first half. However, Boise State was able to connect on a couple quick, late-half three-pointers to end the half trailing 32-31 after being down by seven.

The Rams wasted no time rebuilding the cushion in the second half, but after a string of fouls and missed buckets, the Broncos took the lead with 11 minutes 7 seconds to play.

The final ten minutes of play consisted of each team matching each other’s field goals from the floor, until Boise State’s Diana Lee sank a three-point shot to give it a one point lead with 27 seconds left in regulation, causing CSU coach Ryun Williams to call timeout.

“We just said, ‘Relax, we’ve got you, we’re winning the game,’ and they had a good winning mindset the last two possessions,” Williams said.

The final possession of the game included a missed layup followed by a rebound that allowed CSU to make the final shot as time expired.

Martin finished the game with 22 points, passing 1,000 career points at CSU in her junior season.

“It’s pretty cool and I’m excited about it. I saw Kim Mestdagh do it once, and it’s cool to follow her and the others that have done it,” Martin said. “On top of it all, I have some great girls here to celebrate it with.”

CSU improves to 6-13, 2-4 in Mountain West play, as Boise falls to 10-9, 3-3 MW.

“Give these kids credit, they’ve been resilient. Things haven’t been all that pretty this year and they’re still coming to work, and tonight they got rewarded for it,” Williams said. “It feels good to be a Ram tonight.”

Women’s basketball Beat Reporter Quentin Sickafoose can be reached at sports@collegian.com.