Defense Rules As Broncos Stifle UNLV, 53-38

Saturday, March 2

Boise, Idaho

2:00 PM MT

Boise State

23-4

UNLV

11-17

UNLV

Boise St.

Photo by: Boise State University

3/2/2019 6:55:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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BOISE, Idaho - It's not often you win a game, much less by double digits, when shooting 26.3 percent, but Boise State did it with defense Saturday. The Broncos smothered UNLV defensively, holding the Lady Rebels to just 26.1 percent from the floor and without a 3-pointer in a 53-38 win at Taco Bell Arena.

The win sets up a chance for Boise State (23-4, 14-2) to clinch outright the Mountain West regular-season title, along with the No. 1 seed at March 10-13's Mountain West Tournament, with a win Monday night against New Mexico (23-4, 13-3 MW), over whom the Broncos have a one-game lead in the standings.

Saturday, the Bronco defense held the Lady Rebels (11-17, 9-8 MW) to Boise State Division I opponent season lows in points (38), field goals (12), 3-point field goals (zero), and field-goal percentage (26.1 percent).

"We stepped it up on defense. We decided to contain more at half court instead of full court. It really showed today, they didn't get a lot of second chances at rebounds," said junior Riley Lupfer.

On offense, Boise State's bench was back to its dependable self, accounting for 38 of the Broncos' 53 points on the day, led by 13 from freshman Rachel Bowers and 10 from junior Riley Lupfer. Bowers, who also grabbed a career-high nine rebounds, went 4-for-8 from the field and 5-for-8 from the stripe, with eight of her points coming in the second half. Lupfer, in her second game back since suffering an injury in the first meeting against UNLV on Feb. 6, hit a pair of 3-pointers en route to her 10-point day.

"I thought she really rose to the occasion, she has so much potential," Boise State head coach Gordy Presnell said about Bowers' performance. "She just has a great basketball body, and some athleticism, and jumps well. She just has to keep learning the game, but today against a really athletic post player she did really well."

Sophomore Tess Amundsen came off the bench to provide the spark for the Broncos in the opening quarter, scoring seven of Boise State's 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting. The rest of the Broncos went just 1-for-12 from the field in the frame, but picked up the slack defensive, limiting UNLV to just 20-percent shooting at 3-for-15.

The bench once again did the heavy lifting to open up enough of a lead for the Broncos in the second quarter, as a Jade Loville drive followed by three points from Bowers fueled an 11-3 run over the first 5:31 to put Boise State ahead, 24-13. Lupfer then ended a Bronco dry patch with her 3-pointer 31 seconds before halftime to get the lead back to eight at 27-19 at the break.

After a sluggish third quarter in which each team scored eight points while combining for just five field goals, the Broncos attacked in the final quarter and did the most damage from the free-throw line. Leading 45-37 entering the fourth, Boise State put Bowers to work in the paint, and the freshman responded by drawing multiple fouls and going 4-for-6 from the line in addition to 2-for-3 from the field. Ellie Woerner added a 3-pointer of her own along with a pair of free throws, as the Broncos went 8-for-10 on its freebies in the frame, to push the lead into double digits and help the Broncos coast to the finish.

"I think having played them previously, and the scouting report given to us by our coaches [helped]," said Bowers. "We practiced it a lot in practice and we kind of go over it by ourselves too but having that really detailed scout and also the echoing from the bench, that helps a lot because everyone is on the same page all the time."