Hodgins Hits Milestone In Win

Saturday, January 18

Logan, Utah

2:00 PM MT

Boise State

14-6, 6-2MW

Utah State

5-13, 0-7MW

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Boise State	20	13	14	18	65
Utah State	10	21	13	15	59

Photo by: Boise State University

1/18/2020 6:03:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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Boise State 65, Utah State 59

Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020

Logan, Utah - Dee Glen Smith Spectrum

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LOGAN, Utah - Braydey Hodgins joined Boise State's 1,000-Point Club, and the Broncos got big final-minute shots from A'Shanti Coleman and Riley Lupfer in Saturday's 65-59 win at Utah State.

Hodgins scored a team-high 17 points to go with seven rebounds and three assists, hitting the career milestone with a corner triple with 3:46 to go in the second quarter.

1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ Points.

Welcome to The Club, @braydeyhodgins!#BleedBlue pic.twitter.com/E9MzfQmBqd
— Boise State WBB (@BroncoSportsWBB) January 19, 2020

But it would be clutch buckets from Coleman and Lupfer which put the Broncos (14-6, 6-2 MW) in front twice over the final 1:05. Hodgins' layup with 6:47 to go put the Broncos up seven at 55-48, but Utah State (5-13, 0-7 MW) would go on a 9-0 run, capped by Lindsey Jensen-Baker's layup with 2:36 to go, to take a 57-55 lead. Coleman hit her second 3-pointer of the game with 1:05 to play, nudging the Broncos in front by a point, then, after Steph Gorman's bucket inside gave the lead back to the Aggies, Lupfer drove, drew contact, and finished a drive off the glass to put the Broncos back in front. Lupfer would hit the bonus to make it 61-59 with 19 seconds left.

Boise State would force a pair of misses from Jensen-Baker, who finished the game with 14 points, and Jayde Christopher would go 4-for-4 from the line to seal the win.

"A win is a win. All we can do is lace 'em up and try our best. We've struggled in giving up leads. The previous two conference games on the road we gave up a lead, and we didn't get it back, but today we got it back," said Boise State head coach Gordy Presnell.

"I was really pleased with how Braydey kept us in the game for a little bit, Jayde hit big free throws, and Riley and A'Shanti, after playing so poorly in the first half, to come back in the second half and hit those critical shots and still be engaged in the game is really a testament to their character," Presnell added.

Boise State looked to be comfortably in charge after a strong first quarter before the teams alternated runs in a back-and-forth final 30 minutes. The Broncos went 9-for-14 shooting in the first frame, highlighted by six points on 3-of-4 shooting from Hodgins, to take a 20-10 lead.

Rachel Bowers, who scored eight points off the bench for the Broncos, got the lead to 12 at 24-12 nearly two minutes into the second quarter, but Boise State would struggle the rest of the half. The Broncos would go just 3-for-11 the rest of the quarter, while Utah State slowly chipped away at the lead.

After Hodgins' corner 3 with 3:46 to go in the quarter put her over the 1,000-point milestone, Jensen-Baker and Gorman would combine for all of Utah State's scoring in a 12-3 run the rest of the way. Gorman's 3-pointer with nine seconds to go brought the Aggies within four at 33-29, then she went 2-of-3 from the line after being fouled on a 3-point attempt with 1.7 seconds left to cut the Bronco lead to two at 33-31 into the break.

Boise State looked to reset as Coleman hit a jumper 30 seconds into the second half to make it 35-31, but those would be the last points for the Broncos for nearly seven minutes. Between Coleman's jumper and Hodgins driving layup, Utah State used that six-minute, 33-second Bronco drought to take a 42-35 lead. Emmie Harris would start the 11-0 run with a layup, and Hailey Bennett would score three points as the Aggies got in front for the first time since it was 2-0.

Boise State, however, would recover to outscore the Aggies, 12-2, over the quarter's final 2:57. Hodgins' layup started the run, with Ellie Woerner's 3-pointer tying it up, 42-42, and, with a second remaining, Christopher's three-point play broke another tie to give the Broncos a 47-44 lead headed into the fourth quarter.

Hodgins, with her 1,000th-career point, became the 22nd player in Boise State history to reach the milestone.

"The road win is most important. I think [the milestone] is really cool for my family, it's a big milestone for anyone's career," Hodgins said.

Presnell would have plenty more to say about Hodgins' milestone and what it means for the program.

"I'm really proud of her. She's had quite a career, and 1,000 points is a really great milestone," Presnell said. "It's a lot more than that, it's what she's done for our program. She's hit critical shots at critical times and has been a winner."

Boise State will have its first bye of Mountain West play this Wednesday, before hosting undefeated and first-place Fresno State next Saturday, Jan. 25, at 1 p.m. at ExtraMile Arena.