MOUNTAIN WEST WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Lobos look to dethrone Aztecs in conference tournament
It's the end of an era for the Mountain West with five teams departing after this season
The end of an era starts Saturday at the Mountain West Women's Basketball Championship in Las Vegas.
Who will be the last team to celebrate?
Eight of the MWC's 12 teams tip off with first-round games Saturday at UNLV's Thomas & Mack Center, with the top four seeds sitting out until Sunday's quarterfinals. It's the last Mountain West tournament for longtime members San Diego State, Colorado State, Boise State and Fresno State, who will depart for the former Pac-12 next season.
It's also the first MWC tourney for newcomer Grand Canyon, which will stick around and join incoming members UTEP, Hawaii and UC Davis to presumably fill an 11-team bracket next March.
For the moment, however, the pieces are in place for what could be an entertaining last hurrah. Top-seeded San Diego State (19-1 in conference play) comes in as a solid favorite, but the Aztecs are only one of six teams with the chops to make a possible title run.
UNLV, Colorado State, New Mexico and Boise State, the respective 2-5 seeds, come in with 20 or more wins under their belts and have traded punches throughout the season. No. 6 Grand Canyon has been less consistent but owns the only win over SDSU and has shown it can go toe to toe with the league's other contenders.
"I definitely think it'll be a battle," UNM coach Mike Bradbury said. "San Diego State's the favorite and they deserve to be, but there's not a big gap between the top six teams. It comes down to who gets hot and can play their best basketball for three or four days in a row."
UNM (22-9, 14-6) comes in on a five-game winning streak and will draw the winner of Saturday's first-round game between Boise State and No. 12 San Jose State. New Mexico split two games with the Broncos this season and swept two from the Spartans.
The Lobos say they're not overly concerned with which opponent(s) they face. UNM beat every team in the Mountain West this season except SDSU, which did not visit the Pit, and lost to each of the other top six finishers (along with an upset loss to Nevada).
"Any team in the conference can be really good at times and really bad at times," junior Destinee Hooks said. "We've gone through that ourselves with some ups and downs, so I feel like we just have to focus on what we do, play our best and give it our all."
Sophomore Joana Magalhaes agreed.
"I don't have a preference about who we play," she said. "It is what it is. We just have to go in with the same mindset every time — to win."
If nothing else, the 2026 Mountain West tournament offers a change for the Lobos, who won't see San Diego State in their opening game. UNM has faced the Aztecs four straight times, defeating them in 2022 and losing the last three meetings.
UNM and SDSU are on the same side of the bracket this year but both would need to win Sunday to set up a semifinal matchup. The Aztecs will meet the winner of Saturday's game between No. 8 Wyoming and No. 9 Air Force.
San Diego State will be looking to leave the Mountain West with back-to-back championships after edging Wyoming in last season's tournament final in triple overtime. The road will be different this time for the Aztecs, who have made a habit of advancing as underdogs. SDSU prevailed as No. 4 seed last season and reached the final as a No. 7 seed in 2024.
Host UNLV will be looking to get back to the title game after being knocked out in the semifinals by SDSU last year. The Lady Rebels won three straight championships from 2022-24.
