Boise State picked up a monumental conference win to start the week, hosting second place San Diego State and taking down the Aztecs 62-57 in comeback fashion.
To start the night, it wasn’t pretty for Boise State. The Broncos picked up right where they left off against Wyoming – ice cold.
Entering the game, Boise State held onto onto a 7:35 field goal drought which bled nearly seven minutes into Monday night’s contest at ExtraMile Arena. Between the two games, Boise State had not put a field goal through the hoop in nearly 15 minutes of gameplay.
“Yeah, it was definitely a tough start,” Freshman guard Natalie Pasco said. “We just knew we had to keep pushing, keep working hard throughout the game and just not let that start affect our finish.”
After starting the game by turning the ball over in four of their first five possessions to the Aztecs, eventually falling out to a 17-4 deficit, something changed.
It was post time and the Broncos were itching to be let out of the gate. Pasco came off the bench and scored five straight to end the first quarter on the way to her scoring a game-high 14 points.
“Encouragement and enthusiasm,” Coach Gordy Presnell said helped the Broncos down eight points heading into the second quarter. “We knew we were going to ride it out and we’re not quitting. We’re going to keep on moving and we did.”
Boise State then held San Diego State to just four points in the second quarter, propelling the Broncos to end the half on a 9-0 scoring run heading into the locker room including 26-4 run from the final minutes of the first quarter to the 8:19 mark in the third quarter.
The Broncos at one point shot 8-9 from behind the arc before finishing the game 8-12 from deep. Freshman Dani Bayes shot 3-3 from 3-point range while Natalie Pasco and Anna Ostlie both shot 2-3. Guard Mary Kay Naro also nailed one in from 3-point range, finishing 1-2 from deep.
“It was about time,” Presnell said with a laugh. “They shoot the ball very well in practice and we hadn’t shot it maybe as well as we’d like in games.”
Boise State extended its lead to 15 points before the Aztecs made a final charge, going on a 14-2 run and cutting the lead to four points with 3:14 remaining in the game.
Following a hookshot layup from forward Elodie Lalotte the Broncos brought their lead back up to six and the rest was history. Boise State made its free throws down the stretch and capped off the biggest win of the season to date for the Broncos.
“It was just a great moment for our program,” Presnell said. “We’ve gone through some stuff so we’re going to enjoy this.”
NAME A BETTER GRIDDY THAN A GORDY VICTORY GRIDDY WE'LL WAIT. #BleedBlue | #WhatsNext pic.twitter.com/lIOCQc8438
— Boise State Women’s Basketball (@BroncoSportsWBB) January 31, 2023
Boise State (10-13, 5-5 MW) starts its two-game road trip on Thursday at Nevada (8-13, 5-5 MW) for a game against the Wolf Pack at 7:30 p.m. MT. The contest will be streamed on the Mountain West Network by way of Nevada Sports Network.
Other notable stat lines:
-Abby Muse finished with a game-high 11 rebounds to complement her nine points.
-Dani Bayes (11) and Anna Ostlie (10) both scored double digits while each shooting over 50% from the field.
-Mary Kay Naro scored nine points while dishing out a team-high four assists.
