Boise State Athletics
Boise State
13-9, 7-4MW
UNLV
13-8, 8-2MW
Broncos Find No Luck In Vegas
2/3/2018 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Final Stats | Box Score 
| Postgame Notes | Postgame Quotes
BOISE, Idaho - UNLV made 15 of its first 21 attempts from the field, including five 3-pointers, compounding a cold Boise State start as the Broncos fell, 77-54, to the Lady Rebels Saturday in Las Vegas.
The Lady Rebels (13-8, 8-2 MW) used a 10-0 run over a span of just 1:49 in the middle of the second quarter to bloat their lead to 19 at 37-18. Treys from Jordyn Bell and Alyssa Anderson fueled the run, while Boise State (13-9, 7-4 MW) committed three turnovers and missed their only field-goal attempt during the span.
"Just a really poor performance, especially when we were playing for first place. I'm really disappointed. We were outplayed," said Boise State head coach Gordy Presnell. "We had one team that was out here ready to compete for first, and they got it, and we had another team that wasn't."
Riley Lupfer, who led the Broncos with 17 points and hit five 3-pointers to bring her season total to 83, surpassing Abby Vaughan's tally of 81 in 2002-03 to set the Boise State single-season benchmark, made two of her first three attempts from the field, all 3-pointers, over the opening 6:48, but the rest of the Broncos opened 0-for-7 during that same span. By that time, UNLV had started 8-for-11 from the field, including 3-of-4 from behind the arc, to open up a 20-6 lead. Nikki Wheatley, who finished the game with 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting, scored 12 in the opening frame and made her first eight shots from the field.
🎥 @rileylupfer2 fires from the wing and hits her Boise State-record 82nd 3-pointer of the season! She passes Abby Vaughan (81, 2002-03) for the top single-season spot. #BleedBlue pic.twitter.com/lw9mcQa1ew
- Boise State WBB (@BroncoSportsWBB) February 4, 2018
For the game, Lupfer was the only Bronco starter to make more than one field goal, finishing 5-of-10 from the field. The rest of the Bronco starting lineup, Marta Hermida, Shalen Shaw, Braydey Hodgins, and Joyce Harrell, went a combined 3-for-20, including 0-for-10 from 3-point range.
The bench fared better, as A'Shanti Coleman scored eight points, all in the first half, on 4-of-6 shooting, while Tess Amundsen scored eight points on 3-of-7 shooting and Ellie Woerner had six points over a 3-of-6 performance.
The Broncos shot just 26.7 percent (4-for-15) in the first quarter, and although they went 6-for-12 from the field in the second, UNLV made eight of its 12 attempts in the frame to keep the Broncos at bay.
Boise State kept a glimmer of hope alive by finishing the first half with a 9-2 run that cut the deficit to 12 at 39-27. Lupfer scored five points over the run, and Amundsen closed it with a 3-pointer with 20 seconds to go.
But UNLV would get treys from Bell and Katie Powell early in the second half to push its advantage to 45-29, and Wheatley's three-point play with three seconds remaining in the half capped five-straight points to end the period and put the Lady Rebels up 19 at 60-41.
The Lady Rebels would shoot 56.9 percent from the field for the day, and went 9-for-23 from 3-point range. Powell posted a double-double with a game-high 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Brooke Johnson (19 points) and Bell (11) also scored in double figures.
Boise State returns home for a two-game stand, hosting New Mexico Wednesday at 7 p.m. and Utah State Saturday at 2 p.m.
