Down their best player in the second half of the most important game of the season, the No. 3 Colorado State Rams went nuclear as a group, paced by senior guard Marta Leimane off the bench.

After a tight second quarter and start to the third, CSU went on an 18-4 run between the end of the third and start of the fourth that turned a one-point deficit into a 13-point lead. No. 2 UNLV used its press to steal points and make it close down the stretch, but the Rams won, 66-59.

The win sets up the Rams’ first appearance in the Credit Union 1 Mountain West Women’s Basketball Championship title game since 2022. They will face No. 9 Air Force, which will make its first-ever appearance.

Seeing increased minutes after CSU star Lexus Bargesser exited with an injury, Leimane finished the game with 16 points to go with four assists and three rebounds, setting a career high for points in an MW tournament game.

“I knew that I have a big role to fill, because Lex is a really, really good player for us, and she’s been kind of leading our team,” Leimane said. “Just wanted to do it for her and for our team, because if she goes down we have a lot more players that want to help each other up and pick each other up.

“So that was kind of my mentality, that I have a role to fill, her role, and just lift my teammates up.”

She got going late in the first quarter with a pair of 3s to offset a poor start from both teams that netted, at one point, an eight-point Lady Rebel lead. That led to some rhythm team-wide as the scoring on both ends became more consistent.

On the defensive end, the Rams held the Lady Rebels to just 10 paint points, despite the interior size disparity, while CSU scored 28 inside.

“Our drivers did a good job of getting in there. I thought the kids that battled, (Meadow) Roland and (Destiny) Brown tonight, were phenomenal. I mean, that is some toughness right there. Those two are very, very difficult to handle,” Rams coach Ryun Williams said. “It took a team effort obviously, but they’re tired.”

In the championship game, the Rams will have to find an answer on the perimeter, with star guard Milahnie Perry and in-state rival Air Force waiting.