BOISE, Idaho (UNLVRebels.com) — The Lady Rebels took punch after punch, but busted the Broncos and dusted a space on their trophy case.

UNLV (24-2 overall, 14-0 Mountain West) claimed at least a share of the Mountain West Conference regular-season championship for the second straight season after defeating Boise State (13-14, 8-6), 76-63, Saturday afternoon at the ExtraMile Arena.

With 4 ½ minutes to play, UNLV"s star center Desi-Rae Young picked up her fourth personal foul and it seemed UNLV's 67-61 lead might be in jeopardy. Instead, the Lady Rebels scored the next 9 points and shut out Boise State until the final seconds of the game.

"This is the identity we're finding out about our team," UNLV Head Coach Lindy La Rocque said. "We can get really connected defensively and get stops and offensively they do a great job executing."

Young finished with a game-high 24 points and Essence Booker dropped 22 points as both grabbed nine rebounds apiece.

UNLV forced three turnovers and held Boise State 1-for-7 from the field in the final stretch, the lone make coming uncontested as the clock expired.

"It starts with the point guard (Booker). Essence controlled the tempo of the whole game. When it was close, she dictated putting them away."

Tatum Thompson scored a career-high 19 points to lead Boise State. The freshman was hot at the start, hitting eight of her first nine field goals. Shad made just three 3-pointers all season but was 3-of-4 beyond the arc Saturday. 

Thompson's 3-pointer with 7 ½ minutes left in the third gave the Broncos a 44-40 lead. Then UNLV rattled the sharpshooting Bronco. Alyssa Brown drew a foul from Thompson on the following possession and swished two free throws. She then defended and rebounded Thompson's miss on the ensuing trip. 

"We made the adjustments we were looking for in the second half. Especially when (Thompson) came in, Alyssa did a good job recognizing what we needed from her."

Thompson finished the game 0-for-6 as UNLV held Boise State to 24 second-half points.

UNLV won the battle of the boards over the conference's rebounding leader and scored on 10 of their 13 second-chance opportunities.

The Lady Rebels return to Las Vegas to face San Jose State at the Thomas & Mack Center on Thursday, Feb. 16, at 6:30 p.m.

A win gives UNLV the outright claim to the conference's regular-season title and No. 1-seed for its postseason tournament.