Defense Locks Down Nevada

Saturday, January 4

Boise, Idaho

2:00 PM MT

Boise State

11-5,3-1Mountain West

Nevada

7-7,0-3Mountain West

Nevada

Boise St.

1/4/2020 5:25:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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Boise State 54, Nevada 40

Saturday, Jan. 4, 2020

Boise, Idaho - ExtraMile Arena

Box Score | Postgame Notes | Postgame Quotes

BOISE, Idaho - Boise State's defense put Nevada on lockdown Saturday, holding the Wolf Pack to a season-low 40 points and scoreless over the final 5 minutes, 4 seconds, to capture the 54-40 victory at ExtraMile Arena.

The Bronco defense got the game ball in this victory, holding the Wolf Pack to just 26.9 percent from the field, including a 2-for-17 mark from 3-point range. Boise State (11-5, 3-1 MW) maintained discipline on the defensive end as well, as the Wolf Pack (7-7, 0-3 MW) went to the line just five times on the day and converted only two of those two freebies.

The Wolf Pack hit only two of its final 17 attempts Saturday, including the last nine. Boise State limited Nevada to just 19.4 percent (7-for-36) from the field over the final 20 minutes, and outscored the Wolf Pack, 37-17. No Wolf Pack player finished the game in double digits scoring, with Marguerite Effa scoring a team-high nine points.

"Defensively, we played very well. We switched everything, and I thought we were on top of the switches and not too loose. We tried to prevent them from running what they wanted to pretty easily so I was really proud of them," said Boise State head coach Gordy Presnell. "That was the area that we competed in [today]. It was our best performance."

Boise State shot just 22.6 percent (7-for-31) and scored 17 points in the opening half, but limited its deficit with solid defense. Nevada had its own struggles on the offensive end, scoring just 23 points on 11-for-34 shooting. The Broncos never quite got it going from deep all game, hitting just one 3-pointer in 17 attempts.

That led to Boise State pounding the ball inside on the undersized Wolf Pack in the second half, beginning with the third quarter's opening possession. Mallory McGwire backed Marguerite Effa down in the paint and scored an easy layup, the first of her six points in the frame. Boise State, which finished the game with 38 of its 54 points coming from inside the paint, scored 22 of those in the second half.

"First, we were going to establish post play at the beginning of the third quarter, and go back to what we were trying to do earlier. More than anything [in the first half], we weren't engaged in the game, we weren't lost in it. We didn't have the 'Broncos' on our jersey competing against Nevada, we were worried about 'oh my shot's not going in, this isn't as easy as its been,'" Presnell said.

McGwire scored all 14 of her points in the second half, and, with 10 rebounds, posted her fourth double-double of the season. The Reno native was a presence in the paint on both ends of the floor, blocking three shots for the second-straight outing.

That's how you run in transition!

Nevada loses track of @mallorymcgwire and she scores the easy bucket to put the Broncos up 11!#BleedBlue pic.twitter.com/eu3JWcqxBI
— Boise State WBB (@BroncoSportsWBB) January 4, 2020

Braydey Hodgins, who led all players with 17 points Saturday, found space to drive, and finished the game 6-for-10 from inside the arc, and 6-for-13 overall.

Hodgins added a drive and layup after McGwire's bucket to open the second half, pulling Boise State to within two at 23-21 and forcing a Wolf Pack timeout just one minute, 32 seconds in. Nevada, however, answered out of the stoppage with five-straight points, capped by a 3-pointer from Essence Booker, to take a seven-point lead.

It was all Boise State from there, however. McGwire scored four-straight points following a Riley Lupfer layup to get the deficit back down to one, then the hustle of Hodgins and Jayde Christopher combined to put the Broncos ahead for good.

After another drive and score from Hodgins to put the Broncos up 31-29, Christopher alertly timed the inbound pass, making the steal and feeding Hodgins, who drew the foul going up. Two free throws later, the Broncos had a four-point lead, and went on to finish the third quarter up, 35-32.

"I thought we started competing, and competing against Nevada in the second half, and it really helped," Presnell noted.

Sophomore Jade Loville started the Broncos pulling away in the fourth, cutting and taking a nice pass from Ellie Woerner before finishing off glass to make it 41-36 with six minutes, 47 seconds to go.

Q4, 6:42; 41-36 | Buckets!

Great feed from Ellie Woerner to a cutting @JadeLoville for the easy bucket, and the five-point Bronco lead!#BleedBlue pic.twitter.com/EPV4zQZnxy
— Boise State WBB (@BroncoSportsWBB) January 4, 2020

Dom Phillips' layup with five minutes, four seconds to play brought Nevada as close as it would get the rest of the way, at 45-40, and it would be the last points the Wolf Pack would score. A'Shanti Coleman would go inside to put the Broncos up seven, then McGwire netted the next six Bronco points to make it 53-40 and put the game on ice.