The Mountain West Conference women’s basketball tournament is underway at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. The Colorado State University women’s team avoided having to play in any first round games on Sunday by being the No. 3 seed. 

But the Rams had to wait for the result of Sunday night’s Boise State University matchup against Utah State University to find out who they’d play against on Monday.

The sixth seeded Broncos didn’t have much trouble with the last place Aggies Sunday, as they jumped out to an 11 point lead in the first quarter. They never looked back aside from a late push in the fourth from the Aggies, but they would never get within seven points, as the game would end in a 66-58 walk in the park for the Broncos. 

Boise State’s Mya Hansen led all scorers off the bench with 20 points to go along with three rebounds in 22 minutes. Also for the Broncos, Abby Muse dominated the boards with 11 rebounds on the night. 

As a team, the board battle is where the game was won and lost on the night. The Broncos outrebounded the Aggies 47-28. It also didn’t hurt for the Broncos to more than double the Aggies’ assist numbers.

In the two matchups between the Rams and Broncos this season, the Rams have been dominant. They’ve won both games by an average margin of 18 points. 

Both McKenna Hofschild — this year’s Mountain West Player of the Year — and this year’s Mountain West Newcomer of the Year Destiny Thurman, have been bright stars in the games against Boise State this year. Over the span of both games, the two combined for 70 points, 27 rebounds and nine assists.

But as any coach would tell you, it’s tough to beat any team three times in a season. A conference tournament is a whole new world in terms of competition and stakes. For most, it’s a matter of win or go home. 

The Rams have picked it up in the last stretch of regular season games, aside from the 76-60 loss at the University of Wyoming in the penultimate game of the regular season. In the month of February, CSU is 6-2 with quality wins over Boise State and Wyoming and a 4-point loss to fifth seeded San Diego State University.

This CSU team is battle tested and are no strangers to playing in close games. Aside from losing to the Cowgirls in Laramie by 16, all of the Rams’ conference losses have been by five points or fewer. 

The Rams, led by the conference player of the year in Hofschild — who is averaging 21/7/4 this season — will tip off against the Broncos in the Mountain West quarterfinals at 8 p.m. MST at Thomas & Mack.

Reach Braidon Nourse at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @BraidonNourse.