For the first time in program history, the Wyoming Cowgirls have won a postseason conference tournament — and they’ll now make their second trip to the NCAA Tournament. 

The seventh-seeded Cowgirls culminated an incredible run through the Mountain West Tournament by defeating No. 4 seed Fresno State, 59-56, on Wednesday. Alba Sanchez Ramos blocked a shot from MW Player of the Year Haley Cavinder with one second remaining to secure the victory for the Cowgirls.

“I’m out of words right now,” said UW head coach Gerald Mattinson.

“The effort that they put into this and the way they’ve played during this stretch, it speaks so highly of them,” Mattinson said. “Who they are and what they’ve become, the toughness that this team has shown and that they play with, it’s a credit to them.”

The victory gave Wyoming the Mountain West’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, marking the Cowgirls’ first trip to the “Big Dance” since 2008, where it lost to Pittsburgh.

Both teams got out to strong starts in Wednesday’s contest, but Fresno State led 22-16 after one.

Back-to-back hoops — followed by an assist and two free throws from McKinley Bradshaw of Lyman — gave Wyoming its first lead of the game, 25-24.

The Cowgirls went on a 16-0 run the final 8:50 of the second frame to lead 32-24 into the break; Fresno State scored just two points in the second quarter.

The Bulldogs made little progress in the third quarter, and a Jaye Johnson corner 3-pointer opened the scoring in the fourth to put Wyoming up 50-41. However, Fresno State went on a run, outscoring the Cowgirls 9-2 and holding Wyoming without a field goal for over five minutes. Grace Ellis finally hit a layup to end the drought and put UW up 54-50 with under four minutes to play. Bradshaw then drilled a corner 3-pointer with 3:31 to go and Wyoming was back up seven, 57-50.

The Bulldogs weren’t done yet, however: They scored six straight to cut the Wyoming lead to just one with 32 seconds remaining.

Fresno had a chance to take the lead but missed a layup attempt with six seconds left and were forced to foul Ellis. She went to the line and calmly knocked down both free throws to make it 59-56 with three seconds remaining. The Bulldogs took a timeout to advance the ball but Sanchez Ramos’ defensive play thwarted FSU’s final chance. Sanchez Ramos’ final line was eight points, seven rebounds, four assists and that game-sealing block.

Quinn Weidemann, who was named the Tournament’s Most Valuable Player postgame, led the Cowgirls with 14 points and drilled four 3-pointers in the win. Weidemann also added four assists and four boards on the night. Bradshaw was the other Cowgirl in double figures as she added 13 off the bench while Ellis tied a career-high with nine points and grabbed a career-best five boards. Tommi Olson, who joined Weidemann on the All-Tournament Team, had three points, six rebounds, four assists and a steal.

Wyoming shot 39.6% for the game and hit 9-of-24 (37.5%) from 3-point range while the Bulldogs shot 36.5% overall and went just 4-of-15 from beyond-the-arc. FSU outscored the Cowgirls 14-3 in points off turnovers and 32-20 in points in the paint while UW got 22 bench points; only starters scored for the Bulldogs.

“I’m happy for all of our fans, I’m happy for [UW Director of Athletics Tom Burman], all of our administration and obviously the school and all of our fans. I’m just excited for everybody,” said Mattinson.

The Cowgirls were set to learn their NCAA Tournament opponent during Monday night’s Women’s NCAA Selection Show on ESPN.