Boise State women’s basketball head coach Gordy Presnell is preparing for a significant moment as his team enters the 2026 Credit Union 1 Mountain West Women’s Basketball Championship. The tournament, starting Saturday, March 7, will be the final opportunity for seniors Dani Bayes, Mya Hansen, Natalie Pasco, and Tatum Thompson to compete for a conference title. These four players are noted as the only group in the country who have each scored at least 1,000 career points at the same school.
Reflecting on previous tournaments, Presnell acknowledged both near successes and challenges. In 2024, Boise State reached the semifinals. Last season, they led against top-seeded UNLV for most of their quarterfinal game before losing late.
This year’s event also marks Boise State’s last appearance in the Mountain West Tournament before moving to the Pac-12 next season. Presnell has been with Boise State throughout its time in the MW and currently holds 21 MW tournament wins—one short of Don Flanagan’s record.
“The intensity level is so high,” Presnell said. “It’s more physical than normal. Throughout the years, it’s gotten more and more intense. You have to have a feeling of togetherness. As a group, you have to let the last possession go. The teams that don’t have struggles because the tournament is so intense.”
Presnell joined Boise State ahead of the 2005-06 season and led them through six seasons in the WAC before entering the MW in 2011-12. He recalled his first MW Tournament win over Colorado State: “That was a good day,” Presnell said. “I remember how great that feeling was when we won that first one against Colorado State. It was awesome.”
After initial setbacks in subsequent tournaments, Presnell guided Boise State to its first MW Championship in 2015 after an underclassmen-led meeting sparked a turnaround late in that season.
“They were calling it ‘Lobo North’ or something like that in the facility because of how well New Mexico’s fans travel,” Presnell said about winning their first title against New Mexico. “It was an unbelievable moment of relief to be able to pull that off. Brooke Pahukoa, Deanna Weaver and Yaiza Rodriguez were just tremendous. We were just a loaded team. We played great basketball, had a lot of talent and had great leadership from our players.”
Presnell’s teams went on to secure four consecutive conference tournament titles after another early exit in 2016.
“It was a great run with great kids. Those groups progressed so much. We had a great nucleus and then had some awesome additions that joined us. I bet we had three players that were in the top 100 in the country. We went on a roll and they were just really fun to coach,” he said.
Despite several NCAA Tournament appearances—including close games against Tennessee (2015) and Oregon State (2019)—the program has yet to secure its first national tournament victory.
The COVID-19 pandemic abruptly ended what Presnell considered possibly his most talented team after winning their fourth straight conference title but not getting to compete nationally due to event cancellations.
“That was probably our most talented team,” Presnell said about missing out on NCAA play during COVID-19 disruptions.
Following this period, new leaders emerged as Bayes, Hansen, Pasco and Thompson—known as ‘The Core Four’—joined as freshmen from diverse backgrounds and quickly contributed significant playing time.
“We have the foundation, the cement and all the resources,” Bayes said prior to this season about their motto ‘built’. “Now it’s about building up from that. It’s built through habits, built in the weight room, built to trust and built to last.”
This approach has helped lead Boise State into this year’s tournament with a strong record of 23-8 overall and 14 conference wins—the highest since recent successful seasons—and individual milestones for each senior player.
Presnell highlighted their growth: “They took a massive step forward in their leadership this year,” he said regarding Bayes’ consistency alongside her teammates’ efforts by example.
Their teamwork also aided development among younger players such as Libby Hutton: “They’ve aided us in development of Libby… She fits right in with them and respects them.”
Throughout shared experiences—from injuries to big wins—the group remained unified despite pressures often seen elsewhere among college athletes competing for recognition or opportunities.
“Something about them that doesn’t happen in this day and age at all is that they like each other… They all respect each other and they all like each other,” Presnell remarked on their cohesion.
As they prepare for potentially four games across four days—with staff dividing scouting duties due to quick turnarounds between matchups—Presnell described unique tactical demands within Mountain West competition:
“There is an unbelievable diversity of style of play… You may play a team that’s going shoot 30 3-pointers…then you’ll play [a team] that’s going take 25 seconds off clock… You just have make adjustments really quickly as team… I’ve been blessed with both during my career.”
Looking ahead at what could be his final run at an MW title before joining Pac-12 competition next year:
“We’ve had a great year,” Presnell said.“The reality is that when you get there,you want perform at level you know you can…There’s lot variables—a call here,a call there,a sprained ankle here–whatever.I just want them play game at high level as they can.That’s our goal.The highest ceiling this team has is championship.We’ll see where chips lay.”
“You want get on roll,and you want believe.You want have feeling you’re going throw everything we have at our opponent,” he added.
Boise State begins its campaign against No.12 San Jose State on Saturday afternoon; fans can watch via MW Network.
