The Boise State women’s basketball team came into Thursday’s showdown with New Mexico riding a three-game win streak.
They made it four in impressive fashion, holding off a late Lobos rally in a 69-62 win at ExtraMile Arena.
Boise State (13-13, 8-5 MW) jumped out to an early 14-3 lead and extended it to 31-16 midway through the second quarter. New Mexico cut it to four late in the fourth quarter, but the Broncos hung on to win for the fourth straight time and the sixth time in the past eight games.
“We’ve learned a lot about how to push through adversity because in every game we’ve had a point where we could choose to throw the towel in or we can rise,” Boise State guard Anna Ostlie said. “Lately we’ve been so resilient and I’m so proud of our team for that.”
Ostlie dished out a season-high six assists while also scoring a team-high 14 points for the Broncos. Elodie Lalotte tied Ostlie for the team-high in points against the Lobos with 14 on 7-12 shooting from the field.
“It’s a pretty big transformation from last year when she (Anna) struggled a bit,” Coach Gordy Presell said. “She’s just done a really nice job for us and she’s kind of taken over and you know, she makes great plays.”
Abby Muse hauled in a game-high 12 rebounds while also scoring 11 points and blocking three shots. While already being Boise State’s all-time career leader in blocks, Muse is also four blocks away from surpassing Camille Redmon (77) for the most blocks in a single season for the Broncos.
With Boise State’s fourth-straight win the Broncos are now in sole possession of fifth place in the Mountain West, something that didn’t look within reach just a few weeks ago.
As for another postgame “griddy” celebration from Presnell in the locker room?
“No, nothing tonight,” Presnell chuckled. “Well I’ll tell you what, if we do something on Saturday (against UNLV) I’ll do something on Saturday.”
Boise State will host UNLV (23-2, 13-0 MW) on Saturday in a matinee showdown from ExtraMile Arena. The Lady Rebels will come into Boise having not lost a conference game this season. Tip off is at 2 p.m. and the contest will also be streamed on the Mountain West Network App.
