Broncos Open MW Tournament Against Nevada

2019 Air Force Reserve Mountain West Championship Quarterfinal
No. 1 Boise State (25-4) vs. No. 8 Nevada (12-18)
Monday, March 11 • 1 p.m. MT
Las Vegas, Nev. • Thomas & Mack Center
Series: Boise State leads, 41-17
Last Meeting: Boise State 80, Nevada 65 - Boise, Idaho (Feb. 2, 2019)
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LAS VEGAS - Boise State begins Mountain West Tournament play Monday at 1 p.m. MT in the quarterfinals, taking on No. 8 Nevada.

LAST TIME OUT
Boise State captured outright the Mountain West regular-season title with Monday night's 70-66 victory over New Mexico.

On Senior Night, Marta Hermida and Joyce Harrell cut down the Taco Bell Arena nets, as Hermida scored a team-high 18 points with five rebounds, five assists, and two steals, and Harrell grabbed a team-high eight rebounds with five points.

Point guard Jayde Christopher scored seven points with four assists and five steals, including the game-sealing steal with four seconds remaining. Redshirt junior A'Shanti Coleman went 8-for-11 from the field for 17 points.

WHO'S NEXT
Boise State opens Mountain West Tournament quarterfinal action against No. 8 seed Nevada Monday at 1 p.m. MT.

The Wolf Pack defeated No. 9 San Jose State, 78-68, in Sunday's first round behind double-doubles from Terae Briggs (12 points, 12 rebounds) and Emma Torbert (15 points, 11 rebounds).

THIS SEASON'S MEETINGS
Boise State swept the season series from Nevada, beating the Wolf Pack, 75-74, in Reno on Jan. 16, then capturing a 80-65 win Feb. 2 at Taco Bell Arena.

GOING FOR THE THREE-PEAT
Boise State will go for its third-straight Mountain West Tournament title as it opens up play Monday against Nevada.

A tournament title this week would make the Broncos just the second team in conference history to pull a three-peat, matching the 2003-05 run of New Mexico.

It would also mark four Mountain West Tournament crowns total for Boise State, which would put the program second all-time in conference history, behind New Mexico's five.

BOISE STATE AT THE MOUNTAIN WEST TOURNAMENT
Boise State enters this season's tournament with an all-time record of 10-4 at the event.

After going 1-3 at the event from 2012-14, the Broncos have gone 9-1 over the past four tournaments, winning titles in 2015, 2017, and 2018.

BACK-TO-BACK CHAMPS
Boise State captured its second-straight Mountain West regular-season title, and first outright, with March 4's 70-66 win over New Mexico. The win also made the Broncos the top seed at March 10-13's Mountain West Tournament.

It is the sixth regular-season conference crown in program history, but, just the second won outright, joining the 1991-92 Big Sky title.

Four regular-season crowns (1993-94 Big Sky, 2006-07 WAC, 2007-08 WAC, 2017-18 Mountain West) were all shared.

It also marks the second time in program history that Boise State has won back-to-back regular-season titles (2006-07 and 2007-08 WAC).

MARCH BELONGS TO THE BRONCOS
It's March, which means Boise State is turning up the heat on the rest of the Mountain West. After winning its first three games of the month with wins over UNLV (March 2), New Mexico (March 4), and Air Force (March 7), the Broncos have now won 11-straight in March against Mountain West opponents, and 16 of the last 17. Nine of those wins have come over the 3-0 Mountain West Tournament runs in 2015, 2017, and 2018, with the only March loss coming in the 2016 Mountain West quarterfinals to UNLV.

PRESNELL NAMED MW COACH OF THE YEAR
Head coach Gordy Presnell was named Mountain West Coach of the Year for the first time in his career when the conference announced its regular-season awards and all-conference teams on March 10. For Presnell it is his second conference coach of the year honor while at the Bronco helm, having previously been named WAC Coach of the Year in 2007.

Presnell has guided Boise State to its second-straight Mountain West regular-season title, and first outright, this season, as the Broncos went 16-2 in conference play. The 16 conference victories set a program benchmark, eclipsing the previous record of 14, set three times including last year's 14-4 Mountain West mark.

Boise State's 25 wins this season (25-4) is also tied with the 2016-17 squad as most in program history. A win in Monday's quarterfinal will st the new benchmark.

HODGINS, LUPFER NAMED TO ALL-MOUNTAIN WEST TEAM
Junior guard Braydey Hodgins and Riley Lupfer were each named to the All-Mountain West March 10. For Lupfer it was her second-straight selection, with Hodgins making her first appearance.

Facing increased attention from opposing defenses since her record-setting 2017-18 performance, Lupfer still managed to score 11.2 points per game despite missing four games to injury, netting double digits in eight of her 13 Mountain West games, including a pair of 22-point performances against Wyoming and Colorado State in which she hit a combined 10 3-pointers. She played a key role in Boise State's regular-season title-clinching win over New Mexico on March 4, hitting three triples, including two in the final minutes, to help the Broncos to the 70-66 win.

Hodgins led the Broncos with 13.4 points per game in Mountain West play, pacing the Broncos with 39 3-pointers made (fifth in the conference) and ranking second in the conference with a 41.1 3-point field-goal percentage.

Among Hodgins' nine double digit-scoring games in conference play was a remarkable stretch from Feb. 6-27 in which she put together six-straight games of at least 20 points, matching the Boise State record set by Michelle Schultz from Dec. 31, 1995-Jan. 20, 1996. Over that stretch, Hodgins averaged 22.5 points with FG/3FG/FT percentages of 50.5/42.0/81.5, as well as 17 assists and 13 steals. Over the four games in which Lupfer was out with injury, Hodgins took on the go-to scoring mantle, averaging 21.8 points with FG/3FG/FT percentages of 49.1/42.9/88.9.

COMING IN HOT TO THE TOURNEY
Senior guard Marta Hermida is hitting her stride at the right time, recording double digit-scoring performances in seven of Boise State's final eight games of the regular season.

Heading into the Mountain West Tournament, Hermida has averaged 14.0 points while shooting 40.2 percent from the field and 85.2 percent from the free-throw line. She's also made the hustle plays, grabbing 5.0 rebounds per game and making 12 steals.

CHRISTOPHER RUNNING THE SHOW
Redshirt junior point guard Jayde Christopher has had a successful debut season running the show for Boise State, leading the team with 160 assists and scoring 6.2 points per game.

In Mountain West play, Christopher has passed out at least five assists in 12 of 18 games, and has found her scoring touch of late, reaching double figures in three of the final five regular-season games, capped by a career-high 14-point effort on 5-of-7 shooting March 7 at Air Force.

Christopher's 160 assists this season ranks as the third-most in Bronco single-season history, 32 behind the mark of 192 set by Yaiza Rodriguez in 2016-17.

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Players Mentioned

Jayde Christopher

A'Shanti Coleman

Joyce Harrell

Marta Hermida

Braydey Hodgins

Riley Lupfer

Yaiza Rodriguez