Wednesday, February 19
Boise, Idaho
7:00 PM MT
Boise State
85
vs
67
San Jose State
Christopher Conducts Bronco Blowout
2/19/2020 10:48:00 PM | Women's Basketball
BOISE, Idaho -Â The Mountain West may begin to take notice that Boise State appears to be rounding into its patented late-season form in the wake of Wednesday night's 85-67 destruction of San Jose State at ExtraMile Arena.
The win was the third in a row for the surging Broncos, who solidified their hold on second place in the Mountain West standings with the victory. The Broncos (19-9, 11-5 MW), with two games remaining, currently sit a game and a half ahead of both San Jose State and Wyoming, each at 9-6 in conference play.
Point guard Jayde Christopher, second in the nation in assists and assists per game, passed out 12 helpers and scored 14 points to post her second points-assists double-double of the campaign, and the Broncos dropped 11 3-pointers on the Spartans in the win.
"It was just a great night, and I felt like Jayde Christopher was just electric. She threw some passes that we didn't catch and some unbelievable passes that completed," said Boise State head coach Gordy Presnell. "I thought our sense of timing for the first time was like our old teams, where we hit shots when we had to hit shots and in the past we haven't done that.  Â
A'Shanti Coleman, who led five Broncos in double figures with 20 points Wednesday, put Boise State in the lead for good just two minutes, 34 seconds into the contest, laying in an easy bucket to make it 5-4. Christopher followed with four-straight points and Mallory McGwire hit a 3-pointer to make it 12-4, as Boise State's 9-0 run over just a minute and five seconds had the Broncos off to the races.
Boise State's defense did its part to stifle the Spartans (15-11, 9-6 MW) early and often to quash any threats of a comeback. San Jose State went just 2-for-14 from the field in the opening quarter, allowing the Broncos to build a 19-9 advantage, and couldn't find the range from deep all night, hitting just once in 15 attempts from behind the arc.
The teams played to a draw in the second frame, keeping the Broncos ahead by 10 at the break, but Boise State kicked it into another gear to open the second half which the Spartans could not match.
McGwire answered a half-opening Spartan basket with another 3-pointer, as she finished the night with 13 points. Riley Lupfer followed with a triple of her own, and went on to hit five of her six deep balls in the second half, finishing the night 6-for-10 from range for 18 points.
But it was Christopher who continued to fuel the relentless Bronco offense. The point guard found McGwire for an easy layup to up the lead to 14 at 46-32, and minutes later drove and scored herself to stretch it to a 17-point game just under halfway through the third quarter.
Christopher then answered a Spartan basket with a 3-pointer from the right wing, bringing the Bronco lead to 18 at 56-38 with 5:28 left in the third.
"The importance of sharing the ball, getting everybody else going instead of just, like, Riley. She may have 20 points, but Jade Loville will have like, 14 points. Sharing the ball and getting the ball around and going for other people, that's most important," Christopher said.  Â
More triples from Lupfer, and buckets from Jade Loville, who scored 11 points off the bench to go with seven rebounds, got the Bronco lead as high as 22 at one point in the frame. Boise State would lead by as many as 24 points after Coleman's steal and coast-to-coast layup with 4:20 to go made it 82-58.
The Broncos finished 32-for-65 from the field on the night, and outmuscled the Spartans on the boards by a 43-35 margin.
Tyra Whitehead led San Jose State with a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds, and the Bronco defense did well to limit the Spartans' leading scorer, point guard Ayzhiana Basallo, to just six points on 1-for-6 shooting.
"We tried to keep them away from the right side of the rim and it seemed like everyone wants to go the right side," Presnell said.
The win was the third in a row for the surging Broncos, who solidified their hold on second place in the Mountain West standings with the victory. The Broncos (19-9, 11-5 MW), with two games remaining, currently sit a game and a half ahead of both San Jose State and Wyoming, each at 9-6 in conference play.
Point guard Jayde Christopher, second in the nation in assists and assists per game, passed out 12 helpers and scored 14 points to post her second points-assists double-double of the campaign, and the Broncos dropped 11 3-pointers on the Spartans in the win.
"It was just a great night, and I felt like Jayde Christopher was just electric. She threw some passes that we didn't catch and some unbelievable passes that completed," said Boise State head coach Gordy Presnell. "I thought our sense of timing for the first time was like our old teams, where we hit shots when we had to hit shots and in the past we haven't done that.  Â
A'Shanti Coleman, who led five Broncos in double figures with 20 points Wednesday, put Boise State in the lead for good just two minutes, 34 seconds into the contest, laying in an easy bucket to make it 5-4. Christopher followed with four-straight points and Mallory McGwire hit a 3-pointer to make it 12-4, as Boise State's 9-0 run over just a minute and five seconds had the Broncos off to the races.
Boise State's defense did its part to stifle the Spartans (15-11, 9-6 MW) early and often to quash any threats of a comeback. San Jose State went just 2-for-14 from the field in the opening quarter, allowing the Broncos to build a 19-9 advantage, and couldn't find the range from deep all night, hitting just once in 15 attempts from behind the arc.
The teams played to a draw in the second frame, keeping the Broncos ahead by 10 at the break, but Boise State kicked it into another gear to open the second half which the Spartans could not match.
McGwire answered a half-opening Spartan basket with another 3-pointer, as she finished the night with 13 points. Riley Lupfer followed with a triple of her own, and went on to hit five of her six deep balls in the second half, finishing the night 6-for-10 from range for 18 points.
But it was Christopher who continued to fuel the relentless Bronco offense. The point guard found McGwire for an easy layup to up the lead to 14 at 46-32, and minutes later drove and scored herself to stretch it to a 17-point game just under halfway through the third quarter.
Christopher then answered a Spartan basket with a 3-pointer from the right wing, bringing the Bronco lead to 18 at 56-38 with 5:28 left in the third.
"The importance of sharing the ball, getting everybody else going instead of just, like, Riley. She may have 20 points, but Jade Loville will have like, 14 points. Sharing the ball and getting the ball around and going for other people, that's most important," Christopher said.  Â
More triples from Lupfer, and buckets from Jade Loville, who scored 11 points off the bench to go with seven rebounds, got the Bronco lead as high as 22 at one point in the frame. Boise State would lead by as many as 24 points after Coleman's steal and coast-to-coast layup with 4:20 to go made it 82-58.
The Broncos finished 32-for-65 from the field on the night, and outmuscled the Spartans on the boards by a 43-35 margin.
Tyra Whitehead led San Jose State with a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds, and the Bronco defense did well to limit the Spartans' leading scorer, point guard Ayzhiana Basallo, to just six points on 1-for-6 shooting.
"We tried to keep them away from the right side of the rim and it seemed like everyone wants to go the right side," Presnell said.
Players Mentioned
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Forward
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Guard
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Center
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