LAS VEGAS – The confetti was supposed to be falling on the Cowgirls.
 
Instead, Heather Ezell was consoling her team in the locker room as San Diego State celebrated following Wyoming's painful 72-68 triple-overtime defeat in the Mountain West Tournament championship game.
 
The opening tip was at 8:37 p.m. MT Wednesday and the final buzzer sounded two hours and 38 minutes later.
 
Allyson Fertig finished with 17 points and 18 rebounds in 54 minutes. Malene Pedersen (19 points), Emily Mellema (nine points, seven rebounds) and Tess Barnes (eight points, six assists) also logged over 50 minutes of court time.
 
"I wish we had five more minutes," Ezell said.
 
The season is not over, but UW fell inches short of realizing the team's primary goal of cutting down the nets at the Thomas & Mack Center and sending the six seniors off at the NCAA Tournament.
 
The Cowgirls battled back from five-point deficits – the largest by either team – in the first and second overtimes but never held a lead in extra time.
 
"I hurt for them," Ezell said of her players. "To see the faces in the locker room, to know how bad they're hurting, I wish I could take it away from them. Like I told them, they gave me everything they had. There's no doubt, if something rolls a little bit different, we might be still out there.
 
"I know how much they wanted this. This was a goal for them. If I could do anything to take that away from them."
 
Fertig and Pedersen were named to the all-MW Tournament team after the longest championship game in conference history. SDSU's Veronica Sheffey was the most valuable player after finishing with 24 points, including two clutch free throws to finally put the Cowgirls to bed.
 
"They're my sisters, right? They're my second family," McKinley Dickerson, who scored 10 points off the bench to spark UW late, said of playing with the other five seniors. "It's been an incredible ride, and I'm extremely grateful for it. We're leaving a legacy we're building under Heather. Heather is going to build one. I'm just proud to be a part of it."
 
The Cowgirls (22-11) will return to Laramie on Thursday and await a bid to the WBIT or WNIT.
 
"They'll stay strong," Ezell said. "That's what I told them, is they have another chance to do this, to put the uniform on to represent the university, to represent the Cowgirls and to represent each other and to have a chance to come back and compete again and get the sour taste out of your mouth."
 
If you are interested in learning more about NIL (Name, Image and Likeness) or would like to support our student-athletes, please visit 1wyo.org. 1WYO was created out of Wyoming's culture of neighbor helping neighbor. The mission is to promote and strengthen local charitable organizations and develop Wyoming student athletes. 
 
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