BOISE – Tatum Thompson didn’t have the game winner.
But the Boise State sophomore had nearly everything else Wednesday night at Extra Mile Arena. She was just two points shy of matching her career-high with 19 on better than 56% shooting off the bench to lead the Broncos in picking up their biggest win of the season by holding off second-place New Mexico, 58-55.
“She’s a wonderful kid,” Boise State coach Gordy Presnell said. “Just a joy to have in our program. Always has enthusiasm. She’s won every award you can win in the state of Washington and her ceiling is extremely high. And we just got to figure out ways to tap into that.”
It’s been tough. Especially with Thompson missing nearly half of last season.
She broke her foot after stepping on someone else’s foot during a preseason closed scrimmage. It caused her to miss the first 14 games and all of the nonconference schedule. Thompson didn’t make her officially Boise State debut until Dec. 31, 2022 in a home game against San Jose State. And even then, she only played six minutes and went just 1-of-4 from the field.
Thompson averaged 12.7 minutes per game that season after being expected to contend for a starting spot.
“It was really tough because I’ve never had an injury like that before,” Thompson said. “So it was a whole new journey I had to go through.”
One that hasn’t gotten any easier this season.
Her minutes have only gone up slightly at 13.0 a game. There was a nine-game stretch during the middle of the season where her playing time dipped below 10 minutes. She didn’t register a single point in three of those games for a scoring average barely above three points.
“I can never read Tatum because she’s always energetic and she doesn’t want to let people see her down,” sophomore Dani Bayes said. “She doesn’t show that to many people. So I think it reminds us just to be happy in every moment.”
Thompson’s moment finally came last month.
She logged a career-high 21 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including 100% from 3-point range, seven rebounds and a pair of steals in a 60-50 road win at Fresno State on Jan. 31. It led to her being the first Boise State player in more than a year to earn Mountain West Player of the Week Award honors.
“I’d say that was a pretty big confidence booster,” Thompson said. “It lets me know that going to the gym is showing a little bit of results.
“The game before that I had a little chat with Coach (Presnell) and he helped me figure out what I needed to do. So I was able to implement it.”
That was evident Wednesday.
After checking in for the first time at the 2-minute and 26-second mark of the first quarter, she quickly hit her first shot of the game on a driving layin. Thompson then scored the next six points herself to lead a 12-0 run that put the Broncos (18-9 overall, 9-5 Mountain West) up 21-8 with 7:43 remaining in the first half.
Thompson ended up going 5-for-6 from the field in the first half with her only miss being on an alley-oop layin attempt with a pass that was just slightly off. She even hit a jumper at the buzzer to give Boise State a 29-21 lead going into the break.
“I think she did a great job coming into the game and bringing what we know she has and what she’s capable of,” Bayes said. “She was definitely a huge factor for us.”
And Thompson continued to be in the second half when the game tightened up.
Thompson found a wide-open Bayes for an easy layup to break a near four-minute scoring drought late in the third quarter. She then completed the old-fashioned 3-point play before blocking the shot of New Mexico’s Viane Cumber and scoring on the other end with a layin just seconds later. It all gave Boise State a 44-36 lead with 1:30 to go.
But Thompson wasn’t quite done yet.
The Broncos were clinging to a 45-44 lead with 8:40 left in the game. They missed back-to-back buckets. However, the last rebound ended up in Thompson’s hands. So she stepped back and buried a corner 3 before scoring on another jumper just 30 seconds later to give Boise State some much-needed breathing room at 49-44 with 7:01 remaining.
“Tatum Thompson was terrific,” Presnell said. “She’s so gifted and so talented.”
So is her roommate.
Bayes, who was starting in the place of the injured Mya Hansen, was not having her best game. She only played three minutes in the first half after picking up three quick fouls. And the Brisbane, Australia native was only 2-of-9 from the field, including 1-of-6 from beyond-the-arch when Boise State found itself down 55-53 with only 36 seconds showing on the clock.
But none of that mattered anymore when Bayes hit what would be the game-winning shot on a corner 3 with 12 seconds remaining. Only she didn’t know that at the time.
“I actually thought we were down by one,” Bayes said with a laugh. “So when I shot it, everyone started celebrating and I was like, ‘Why are we celebrating? We’re down by one. Lock in guys.’ And then I looked up and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, we’re up by one.’
“So I kind of missed my prime opportunity to get a really good photo.”
Cumber missed a 3-pointer of her own and after Natalie Pasco drained a pair of free throws, the Lobos (18-9, 9-5) failed to get another shot off before the buzzer.
Boise State is now tied for second place in the Mountain West Conference standings with just four games left in the regular season.
Senior forward Elodie Lalotte and Pasco finished with 12 and 11 points, respectively, for the Broncos. They’ll return home Saturday against Fresno State. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
