Broncos Hold Off Late Falcon Rally

Wednesday, January 15

Boise Idaho

7:00 PM MT

Boise State

13-6,5-2Mountain West

Air Force

4-13,2-4Mountain West

Air Force

Boise St.

Photo by: Patrick Sweeney

1/15/2020 9:59:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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BOISE, Idaho - Boise State made the final, decisive run Wednesday night, scoring the final eight points to turn a one-point game with just over two minutes to play into a 70-61 win over Air Force.

The Broncos (13-6, 5-2 MW) survived a 19-2 fourth-quarter Air Force run which trimmed Boise State's 60-42 lead down to one with timely defense. After Braydey Hodgins broke a nearly three-minute Bronco scoring drought with a layup to get it to 64-61, the Bronco defense locked down, forcing misses on each of the Falcons' final three field-goal attempts.

Kaelin Immel nearly single-handedly brought Air Force (4-13, 2-4 MW) all the way back, scoring 15 of her game-high 28 points in the final quarter. After Rachel Bowers scored from close to put the Broncos up 60-42 with 6:42 to play, Immel scored the next nine Falcon points, and 11 total over a 19-2 run that spanned three minutes, 14 seconds.

"We made some crucial plays at crucial moments. We had an 18-point lead and they battled back. They threw an extended 2-3 zone on us and we didn't handle it as well as we should have," said Boise State head coach Gordy Presnell.

The near-comeback almost derailed Boise State's conference home winning streak, which increased to 18 with the win, as well as a strong Bronco start to the second half.

The Broncos trailed just once Wednesday night, that coming after a pair of Immel free throws 4:24 before halftime. Maggie Freeman, however, would score the final four points of the half to give Boise State a 27-24 lead at the break.

Air Force pulled even on Immel's three just seven seconds into the third quarter, but the rest of the period quickly became all Boise State. Hodgins answered Immel's triple, sparking a 16-1 Bronco run. Riley Lupfer, who finished with a team-high 14 points and a career high-matching seven rebounds, hit three of her four 3-pointers over the run, with the third making it 43-28.

Stop us if you've heard this one...@rileylupfer2 3️⃣ in transition.

And that's 🔟 assists for @jookieee23!#BleedBlue pic.twitter.com/dL4RjCmfMr
— Boise State WBB (@BroncoSportsWBB) January 16, 2020

Point guard Jayde Christopher scored four-straight points to get the lead to 16 at 49-33, bolstering a stat line which ended at eight points and 13 assists, coming up just one shy of the Boise State single-game record of 14 she shares with Marta Hermida. The performance also lifted her national-best assist total to 152.

Boise State would outscore the Falcons, 24-11, in the frame to take a 51-35 lead heading into the final quarter.

"I felt like [Air Force] played with a little more heart than we had," Presnell said about the first half. "Every loose ball they were jumping and crashing on. They're the smallest team [in the Mountain West] and they lead the league in offensive rebounds at 16 a game, which is remarkable. They just want it, and I thought they wanted it more than us. We came out in the third quarter and did a better job with that."

Center Mallory McGwire also starred for the Broncos, posting her fifth double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds. A'Shanti Coleman helped the Broncos' 42-32 rebounding edge on the night, grabbing nine to go with seven points.

Boise State's bench was once again a productive force, as six points apiece from Rachel Bowers and Jade Loville highlighted a night in which they, along with Ellie Woerner and Freeman, combined for 20 points on 10-for-16 shooting.