No. 3 seed Colorado State earned a thrilling buzzer-beating win over Grand Canyon (61-59), cementing its semifinal spot in the 2026 Credit Union 1 Mountain West Women’s Basketball Championship.
2026 marks the fourth time in the last five seasons that the Rams have earned a spot in the semifinal round.
A mutually low-scoring first quarter concluded with a 13-11 lead for the Rams, before the Lopes bounced back in the second quarter, outscoring the Rams 18-8 and holding them scoreless over the final 3 minutes and 43 seconds of the first half.
Both teams picked up the pace late in the third, and surges from Brooke Carlson and Lexus Bargesser revived the Rams, who struggled from deep all game long.
A gritty fourth quarter found the game tied 48-48, just before the Rams gained the lead 52-51 after a Bargesser bucket with 3:14 left on the clock. CSU forced the Lopes to commit four critical turnovers, while Kloe Froebe turned up the heat to finish with 15 points and 5 rebounds.
Grand Canyon’s Julianna Lamendola tied the game with just over two seconds left, before Rams senior Madeline Bragg sent the Rams into the semifinals with a game-winning bank shot as time expired.
I’m happy they found a way to win it, and you knew it was going to happen at some time,” said CSU head coach Ryun Williams. “They really kept believing, but hats off to Grand Canyon for how they played today.”
The Rams’ 12-point comeback win is CSU’s largest comeback win a MW tournament game since 2016 when they came back from a 15-point deficit against Fresno State.
CSU will face No. 2 UNLV on Monday evening with a trip to the championship game on the line.
