For 40 minutes, the Minnesota State Mavericks and Cal State San Marcos Cougars simply battled. When the final buzzer sounded, it was the Mavs with the last-second basket to advance to the national championship game against Texas Women's University.

Minnesota State pushed the pace early, winning the race to double-digit points just over four minutes into the game. After the Mavs pushed the lead to double-digits at 15-4 with 4:30 left to play, the Cougars came roaring back, using a three-pointer by Truitt Reilly with 41 seconds left to pull back within one point, 19-18, after one quarter.

After CSUSM tied it up on a pair of Reilly free throws with 6:57 to go in the first half, MSU took back the lead and a driving layup by Emily Herzberg with 37 seconds left put the Mavericks up, 34-30, heading into the halftime break.

The Mavs once again played at a frenetic pace to open the second half and pushed the lead up to seven points just two and a half minutes in. CSUSM didn't give in and a three-pointer by Charity Gallegos with 4:29 left brought the Cougars back within one at 43-42.

With a little under three minutes remaining in the third period, a layup by Jordan Vasquez gave CSUSM its first lead since the opening minute of the game and the two teams would continue to battle. A late push by the Cougars would put the West Region camps up by two points, 53-51, heading into the final quarter.

It was much of the same into the fourth quarter as the two teams continued to battle with neither side able to build much of a lead. CSUSM used a three-pointer by Gallegos with 3:46 to take a six point lead but just thirty second later, the Mavericks had the Cougar lead down to one, 64-63.

MSU retook the lead with just over two and a half minutes left to play but Mina Tameilau made a pair of free throws to give the lead back to San Marcos. MSU made a jumper with just over a minute left and after Gallegos hit a pair of free throws with 46 seconds left, it came down to the final possessions.

MSU's Herzberg made a free throw to tie it up with 22.0 seconds left but missed the second. Following a turnover on the Cougars' offensive possession, the Mavs had one more chance with 4.0 seconds left to play and Herzberg found space under the basket for the game-winning layup with just 0.2 seconds left on the clock.

The Cougars were led by 20 points from Gallegos. Vasquez added 16 points to go with 20 rebounds while Tameilau and Reilly finished with 12 points each. CSUSM outrebounded the Mavs, 46-35, but committed 27 turnovers against the tough MSU defense.

Cal State San Marcos finishes the season with a record of 27-7.