Broncos Open NCAA Tournament Saturday In Corvallis

2019 NCAA Tournament • First Round
No. 13 Boise State (28-4) vs. No. 4 Oregon State (24-7)
Saturday, March 23
Corvallis, Ore. • Gill Coliseum
TV: ESPN2 (PxP - Tiffany Greene, Analyst - Mary Murphy)
Series: Oregon State leads, 9-5
Last Meeting: Oregon State 66, Boise State 55 - Corvallis, Ore. (Dec. 31, 2000)
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BOISE, Idaho - Boise State opens play at its sixth NCAA Tournament in program history Saturday, facing host and No. 4 seed Oregon State at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis, Ore. Tip off will be on ESPN2 30 minutes following the session's 1:30 p.m. MT opening game between No. 5 Gonzaga and No. 12 Little Rock.

LAST TIME OUT
Boise State capped its Mountain West Tournament Three-Peat as well as its second-straight Mountain West double on March 13, defeating Wyoming, 68-51, in the conference title game in Las Vegas.

Junior guard Braydey Hodgins was named the tournament MVP following her 16-point, 6-for-6 shooting performance in the title game. Over Boise State's 3-0 run, Hodgins averaged 23.3 points with FG/3FG/Ft percentages of 61.1/42.1/94.7, and had a tournament-record 37 points in Wednesday's quarterfinal win over Nevada.

Senior guard Marta Hermida was also named to the All-Tournament Team, averaging 14.0 points with 5.7 rebounds and 4.00 assists over the three wins. Senior Joyce Harrell averaged 8.3 points and 5.7 rebounds to pace the postgame.

WHO'S NEXT
Boise State received a 13 seed from the NCAA Women's Basketball Committee and will travel to Corvallis, Ore., to face host and No. 4 seed Oregon State Saturday at 3:30 p.m. MT.

The Beavers (24-7), ranked 11th in the final regular-season Associated Press Poll and 12th in the most recent Coaches Poll, finished third in the Pac-12 before bowing out of the Pac-12 Tournament in the quarterfinals, suffering a 68-67 upset at the hands of 11-seed Washington.

Oregon State is led by the play of guards Destiny Slocum (16.0 ppg, 66 3-pointers, 4.65 apg) and Mikayla Pivec (14.9 ppg, 9.1 rpg).

SERIES HISTORY
Oregon State has won nine of the 14 all-time meetings between the two programs, including the past four. Saturday's meeting will be the first between the schools in two decades, since Oregon State's 66-55 win on Dec. 31, 2000 in Corvallis.

Boise State is 1-6 all-time against the Beavers in Corvallis, and is 2-0 all-time against Oregon State in postseason games, winning AIAW Region IX games in 1974 and 1975.

NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Boise State will be making its third-straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament, and sixth all-time (1994, 2007, 2015, 2017-19). The Broncos are 0-5 all-time at the event.

Saturday's contest will also mark the third time that Boise State has faced a Pac-12 team in a true away game in the tournament. The Broncos fell at Washington, 89-61, in the first round on March 16, 1994, and 83-56 at UCLA on March 18, 2017.

Including this Saturday's meeting with Oregon State, Boise State has also played its first-round game on its opponent's home court five of six times. The only neutral-site NCAA Tournament game in program history was a 76-67 loss to George Washington in Los Angeles at the 2007 event.

JOINING THE THREE-TIMERS CLUB
Seniors Joyce Harrell and Marta Hermida, along with juniors Braydey Hodgins, Riley Lupfer, and Emerald Toth, are poised join Shay Shaw (2014-18) as the only Broncos in program history to play in three NCAA Tournaments.

Shaw played in her third with last season's trip to Louisville, while this year's quintet has played in each of the last two. For Hodgins, Lupfer, and Toth, they will get a shot next season to become the only Broncos to play in four NCAA Tournaments.

Redshirt senior center Marijke Vanderschaaf has been part of all four Bronco NCAA Tournament teams since 2015. Vanderschaaf suffered a preseason injury and redshirted the 2015 season, when Boise State played at Tennessee as a 15 seed, then played in the 2017 first-round contest at UCLA, and was out injured once more last year after suffering a season-ending knee injury in December 2017.

THREE-PEATIN'
With March 13's Mountain West Tournament title-game win over Wyoming, Boise State joined New Mexico (2003-05) as just the second Mountain West school to successfully pull off the tournament three-peat.

It was also Boise State's fourth Mountain West Tournament title in five years (2015, 2017-19), putting the Broncos second in conference history, just one behind New Mexico (five tournament titles).

BIG GAME BRAYDEY
Junior guard Braydey Hodgins continued her breakout season by taking over the Mountain West Tournament en route to tournament MVP honors.

"Big Game Braydey" scored 23.3 points per game with FG/3FG/FT percentages of 61.1/42.1/94.7 over the three wins, including a tournament-record 37 points in March 11's quarterfinal win over Nevada.

For the season, Hodgins leads the Broncos with 13.4 points per game and 70 3-pointers, while shooting 46.4 percent from the field, 41.9 from 3-point range, and 82.0 from the line.

IT'S IN THE BLOOD
Hodgins' clutch performances come to no surprise to those who have followed the family's hoopers. Braydey's older sisters, Hayley (2013-16) and Delaney (2014-17), were standouts at Eastern Washington, with Hayley closing her career as the Eagles' all-time leading scorer with 1,862 points before Delaney took over the top spot and graduated a season later with 2,120 career points.

The trio's mother, Karen (Murray) Hodgins, was a standout player at Washington from 1980-84, and remains in the Husky top 10 in career scoring, currently seventh at 1,745 points.

HODGINS MATCHES THE RECORD
One of many highlights to Braydey Hodgins' 2018-19 season was her program record-matching six-game streak of 20-point games from Feb. 6-27.

Hodgins equaled Michelle Schultz' (1991-96) run of six-straight 20-point games set from Dec. 31, 1995 to Jan. 20, 1996.

Over that six-game run, which began with a 28-point outing Feb. 6 at UNLV, Hodgins averaged 22.5 points with FG/3FG/FT percentages of 50.5/42.0/81.5.

Her streak was snapped March 2 against the very team it started against, UNLV, when Hodgins was held to seven points on 1-for-3 shooting.

NOT READY TO BE DONE YET
Seniors Joyce Harrell and Marta Hermida were honored on Senior Night prior to March 4's game against New Mexico, but the pair is determined to extend their collegiate careers as long as possible based on their play.

Hermida has been on fire over the last month-plus. Beginning with Feb. 9's win at San Jose State, Hermida has scored in double figures in eight of Boise State's last 11 games entering the NCAA Tournament. Over that stretch she has averaged 14.0 points on 40.8-percent shooting along with 5.2 rebounds and 3.09 assists. Her free-throw shooting has also been on point, as she is hitting at an 85.4-percent clip (35-for-41) over this stretch.

Harrell, meanwhile, has attacked the glass with gusto, averaging 5.8 rebounds since Senior Day (last five games). She's even gotten into the scoring game, averaging 6.6 points while going for 11 in the Mountain West semifinals against Fresno State and 12 in the title game against Wyoming. Half of Harrell's rebounds over this five-game span (14 of 29) have also come off the offensive glass.

MARCH BELONGS TO THE BRONCOS
It's March, which means Boise State is turning up the heat. Among regular-season and postseason games, the Broncos have won five-straight heading into this weekend's NCAA Tournament, and 19 of the last 22 since March 1, 2016.

CHRISTOPHER MAKES AN IMPACT
Redshirt junior point guard Jayde Christopher has had a successful debut season running the show for Boise State, leading the team with 176 assists and scoring 6.3 points per game. During the Mountain West Tournament, Christopher

Christopher's 176 assists this season ranks as the second-most in Bronco single-season history, 16 behind the mark of 192 set by Yaiza Rodriguez in 2016-17.

A Kansas transfer who sat out the 2017-18 season due to NCAA transfer rules, Christopher's impact in her debut season has been felt most on the Broncos' field-goal percentage, namely with the posts. Redshirt junior forward A'Shanti Coleman (52.4) is shooting a career-best percentage from the field, while senior forward Joyce Harrell is at 46.2 percent, one point off her career best, although she has scored a career-high 92 field goals this season (previous career high was 52). Freshman center Rachel Bowers has also benefitted, having Christopher feed her to the tune of a 55.9 field-goal percentage.

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Players Mentioned

Rachel Bowers

Jayde Christopher

A'Shanti Coleman

Joyce Harrell

Marta Hermida

Braydey Hodgins

Riley Lupfer

Yaiza Rodriguez

Emerald Toth

Marijke Vanderschaaf