Big Opportunity Sunday For Boise State

BOISE, Idaho - Boise State hosts Missouri State in Preseason WNIT quarterfinal action Sunday at 2 p.m. at ExtraMile Arena.

A Broncos win would send them to the semifinals Nov. 14 against either Oklahoma or UAB. A loss would see the Broncos play a consolation game either Nov. 15 or Nov. 16.

LAST TIME OUT
Boise State opened the Preseason WNIT with an 82-57 win over Portland State Friday night.

Senior guard Riley Lupfer hit six 3-pointers, just one shy of her career high, and scored a game-high 20 points as the Broncos sank 11 from deep against the Vikings.

Three of Lupfer's triples came in the second quarter, in which the Broncos went 7-for-12 from behind the arc and outscored Portland State, 30-10, to take a 51-23 halftime lead.

The Bronco bench came up big once again, as Rachel Bowers (15 points on 7-of-9 shooting), Jade Loville (14 points, 5-for-10 shooting), and Ellie Woerner (six points, career-high 11 rebounds) combined for 35 of the team's 82 points.

WHO'S NEXT
Missouri State (2-0) visits ExtraMile Arena Sunday for a Preseason WNIT quarterfinal at 2 p.m. The Bears opened the tournament Friday with a 79-51 win over Texas A&M Corpus-Christi.

The Bears opened their season last Tuesday with a 77-69 victory at No. 23 Minnesota, and, factoring in last season's Missouri Valley Conference tournament title and NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 run, have defeated four top-25 teams in their last six contests.

Alexa Willard leads Missouri State with 21.5 points per game, with Brice Calip right behind her at 21.0 points a game. As a team, the Bears are shooting 51.4 percent from the field over their 2-0 start.

SERIES HISTORY
Sunday will mark the first meeting between Boise State and Missouri State.

The Broncos are 1-1 all-time against Missouri Valley Conference teams, picking up the win with a 61-60 win over Northern Iowa to capture the Beach Classic in Long Beach, Calif., last Nov. 24.

WHAT HAPPENS IF...
Should the Broncos win Sunday, they will go on to the semifinals, set for Thursday, Nov. 14, against the winner of Sunday's Oklahoma-UAB contest.

A Bronco loss will send them to a consolation consolation game with date, site, and opponent to be determined on either Nov. 15 or 16.

LUPFER HEATS UP
Bronco fans had to feel encouraged to see senior Riley Lupfer drain six 3-pointers in Friday's win over Portland State. Lupfer, after setting a program and Mountain West single-season record with 122 triples in 2017-18, hit 67 last year at a career-low 32.5-percent clip.

Despite a 1-for-5 showing in Tuesday's opener, Lupfer rebounded with a 6-for-12 effort Friday, scoring 20 points for her 12th-career 20-point game.

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

@rileyupfer2 from deeeeeeeeeeep!!!

Her fifth 3 of the game puts the Broncos up 47-23 over the Vikings!#BleedBlue pic.twitter.com/m2Sts6YIkb
— Boise State WBB (@BroncoSportsWBB) November 9, 2019

LUPFER APPROACHES CAREER 3s MARK
Senior guard Riley Lupfer could very quickly this season become Boise State's all-time leader in 3-pointers made.

Lupfer has 252 made 3s entering Sunday's contest, just eight behind all-time leader Abby Vaughan (260, 1999-2003).

RUNNING THE SHOW
Redshirt senior point guard Jayde Christopher made a solid Boise State debut last year, passing out 182 assists and orchestrating the Mountain West's top-scoring offense.

This season, she's picked up right where she left off, recording two-straight games with seven assists. Christopher's also shown a shooting touch, hitting at a 63.6-percent clip (7-for-11) with a pair of 3-pointers.

SECOND UNIT FLEX
Boise State's bench has flexed its power on opponents early this season, combining to score 78 points over the first two games.

This effort has been mainly due to a trio of "energy" players in redshirt senior guard Ellie Woerner (21 points, 50.0 field-goal percentage over the first two games), and sophomores Jade Loville (28 points, 52.6 percent shooting) and Rachel Bowers (21 points, 76.9 percent shooting, 12 rebounds).

Friday, the group came through once again. Woerner grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds to go with six points, while Loville scored 14 points for the second-straight game, and Bowers went 7-for-9 from the field for 15 points with her second six-rebound game to start the season.

🎥 Great ball movement as @JadeLoville finds @raachelbowers for the baseline J!

Broncos up, 19-13, over Portland State!#BleedBlue pic.twitter.com/iZKzV2dhiJ
— Boise State WBB (@BroncoSportsWBB) November 9, 2019

HANDS IN THOSE FACES
Boise State has put even more emphasis on aggressive defense in 2019-20, and the results have been fruitful. Through two games, the Broncos have forced 52 turnovers.

That disruptive action has prevented opponents from finding a rhythm on offense, as Bronco opponents have passed out just 13 assists and are shooting just 27.2 percent from the field.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Rachel Bowers

Jayde Christopher

Jade Loville

Riley Lupfer

Ellie Woerner