McGwire's Game-Winner Lifts Boise State

Wednesday, December 4

Boise, Idaho

7:00 PM MT

Boise State

5-4,1-0Mountain West

New Mexico

6-2,0-1Mountain West

OT 1

New Mexico

Boise St.

Photo by: Boise State University

12/4/2019 10:16:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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BOISE, Idaho - Mallory McGwire had never made a 3-pointer in her collegiate career prior to this season. And now, she's made 10, but none bigger than the triple from the left wing with 11 seconds left in overtime that delivered the winning points in Boise State's 83-82 win over New Mexico at ExtraMile Arena.

"I don't practice that often. I was just kind of calm, and I took the shot, and it went in," McGwire said afterwards.

It capped a dominant night for the redshirt junior transfer, as she posted her second double of the season with a career-high 21 points and a career high-tying 17 rebounds. Fourteen of her points came over the fourth quarter and overtime, as she went 6-for-9 from the field over the final 15 minutes of action.

Mallory McGwire says, "GAME. BLOUSES."#BleedBlue #ncaaw pic.twitter.com/ag9uB4Nrfv
— Boise State WBB (@BroncoSportsWBB) December 5, 2019

Even more remarkable, McGwire's 3-pointer was one of just two field goals for the Broncos (5-4, 1-0 MW) in the extra session. Riley Lupfer hit her sixth triple of the night with 56 seconds left to pull the Broncos to within two at 82-80, and McGwire's game-winner put the finish on Boise State's six-point overtime, with all points coming in the final minute.

New Mexico (6-2, 0-1 MW) scored the first five points of the extra frame, beginning with Antonia Anderson's triple 1:09 in. Anderson would hit 1-of-2 from the line with 3:25 left, and Jordan Hosey would also halve her attempts with 1:57 to go, putting the Lobos up, 82-77, and looking firmly in control.

It would look even bleaker for the Broncos after Braydey Hodgins missed from deep, and New Mexico controlled the rebound. But Jayla Everett missed a jumper with 1:06 to go, with Lupfer capitalizing with a deep ball that capped her 18-point night. McGwire would then block Hosey's jumper on the other end with 29 seconds left, prompting a Bronco timeout with 15 seconds to play.

Jayde Christopher inbounded to McGwire, and, with Lupfer doubled, McGwire found herself wide open on the wing, and hit nothing but net. She would then grab the clinching rebound on Everett's miss in the lane on the other end, and the Broncos would complete the win.

"I'm really proud of our willpower, and the commitment to finish the game no matter what," said Boise State head coach Gordy Presnell. "We're down five with a minute-30, something like that. It was a team performance but Mal had some really big statistics against a great team."

Redshirt senior guard Ellie Woerner provided a huge lift off the bench, scoring eight points with three rebounds and four assists. But it was two plays in which Woerner made the difference. The first coming with 1:40 left in regulation, as she drained a deep 3-pointer to knot it up at 75-75, and the second as she broke up an inbound pass from underneath the New Mexico hoop with 1.1 seconds left to force overtime.

Here's how @EllieWoerner22 tied this one up at 75-75 with the deep 3!#BleedBlue pic.twitter.com/61niREA8Ia
— Boise State WBB (@BroncoSportsWBB) December 5, 2019

"We always come together in moments like that, no matter how much we're down. Especially this group of seniors, we've been in games like that, where we have to fight our way back. We never gave up, we knew we could win it," Woerner said.

Jaedyn De La Cerda led New Mexico with 19 points Wednesday, hitting three triples and helping the Lobos get back into the game after a rough start. Hodgins, who finished with 14 points and went 3-for-5 from deep in the game, hit a pair of triples in the opening minute to prompt a New Mexico timeout, and Lupfer hit her first 1:11 into the game to force another Lobo stoppage as the Broncos raced out to a 9-0 lead.

The Lobos chipped away, and De La Cerda hit a pair of triples in a late Lobo first-half run, and New Mexico scored the first seven points of the second half to turn a 40-33 deficit into a 49-44 lead with 8:18 left in the third quarter.

New Mexico would lead by as many as seven at 75-68 with 3:27 left in regulation, but Rachel Bowers and McGwire would score on back-to-back possessions, and an offensive foul on Hosey would set up Woerner's game-tying triple late in the fourth.

Boise State will face Colorado State Sunday at 1 p.m. in Fort Collins, before resuming non-conference play Dec. 11 against BYU at ExtraMile Arena.