Boise State (24-8) won despite a horrendous first half of shooting. The Broncos had just one field goal in the final 11½ minutes and hit just 5 of 29 shots in the first half.

Amanda Stewart's offensive rebound basket with 4:18 left put the Broncos ahead 48-44 and Jessica Thompson added a free throw with 8.6 seconds remaining. New Mexico State's only points over the final 4 minutes were a pair of free throws by Sherell Neal with 1:18 remaining.

New Mexico State (13-18) fell short in its bid to pull off another upset. For the second straight year the Aggies made it to the championship game as the seventh seed, but again came up short. NMSU lost to Louisiana Tech in last year's title game. The Aggies eliminated No. 2 seed Louisiana Tech in this year's quarterfinals and beat No. 3 Nevada in the semifinals yesterday.