Ellie Mack has spent the last six years as a college basketball player but there is one part of college life she has not experienced.

“I’ve never had a spring break,” Mack said Thursday night after Oregon State’s 78-73 victory over New Mexico in the third round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament.

Spring break falls within March Madness and while the Beavers are not part of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2012-13 season (not counting the canceled 2019-20 postseason), they are making the most of their bid to the WNIT.

The Beavers have won three straight games, defeating Long Beach State, Portland and New Mexico. Oregon State (17-13) will host UCLA (17-12) at noon Sunday at Gill Coliseum in a quarterfinal matchup.

“It’s been really special for me. Just being at home has added so much to it. Having our fans here has made it really special,” Mack said of the WNIT games.

They are also enjoying this time together as a team and their families have been included in the festivities. Members of Mack’s family have traveled back and forth from their home in Pennsylvania to attend games. Talia von Oelhoffen’s family lives in Seattle and is able to drive down for games. Other parents have traveled much farther to see the games.

“Emily Codding’s dad said he’s going to stay as long as we keep winning, so he’s been here a while. He’s been making us team dinners. So it’s been cool to have all our families here supporting us,” von Oelhoffen said.

The team isn’t ready for its season to be over but it looked like that might be the case early in Thursday’s game against the Lobos.

New Mexico took an early lead as guard LaTascya Duff made her first five 3-point attempts and the Lobos went 8-for-12 from beyond the arc in the first quarter to build a 30-16 lead.

That lead grew as high as 18 points midway through the second quarter. Mack and von Oelhoffen hit 3-pointers late in the quarter to trim the Lobos’ lead to eight points going into the break.

The second half was tightly contested all the way to the buzzer, with von Oelhoffen making four free throws in the closing seconds to clinch the win.

“What a fun second half it was, a back-and-forth battle. I was really proud of our team making plays down the stretch,” Oregon State coach Scott Rueck said.

Von Oelhoffen finished with a game-high 25 points and made 5 of 11 attempts from beyond the arc. Mack scored 22 points and Jelena Mitrovic had 13 points and 11 rebounds. Taya Corosdale scored four points and also had nine rebounds and a game-high six assists.

Duff led the Lobos with 20 points and Jaedyn De La Cerda added 17.

UCLA had an even tougher battle in its third-round game. The Bruins defeated Wyoming, 82-81, in triple overtime.

Oregon State and UCLA played once this season in Corvallis with the Beavers taking a 72-58 victory on Jan. 30.

The Bruins played well late in the season and have won six of their last seven games, including an upset of No. 12 Arizona in Tucson. The Bruins were without standout guard Charisma Osborne in their first meeting against Oregon State and her return from injury has provided a boost for the Bruins offensively.

“I know from 12 years of experience that it’s going to be a great game. It always is against UCLA, they’ve got a lot of talent. They play very hard. Of course Cori (Close) does a great job as a coach,” Rueck said.