Monday, February 24
Boise, Idaho
7:00 PM MT
Boise State
21-9,13-5Mountain West
81
vs
52
UNLV
13-15,9-8Mountain West
1
2
3
4
F
UNLV
12
12
10
18
52
Boise St.
16
27
20
18
81
Photo by: Boise State University
Seniors Lead The Way On Senior Night
2/24/2020 10:51:00 PM | Women's Basketball
BOISE, Idaho -Â It was only appropriate that Boise State's seniors would carry the game on Senior Night, as A'Shanti Coleman and Riley Lupfer's efforts highlighted the Broncos' 81-52 win over UNLV.
With the win, Boise State wrapped up the conference season 13-5 and clinched the No. 2 seed at next week's Mountain West Tournament. The Broncos (21-9 overall) will go for a fourth-straight conference tournament crown and NCAA Tournament bid beginning Monday, March 2, at 7 p.m. MT from the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.
This Monday night in Boise, Coleman scored a career-high 22 points with 10 rebounds, posting her third-straight 20-point game and third double-double of the season. Lupfer hit five 3-pointers, going 5-for-8 from deep and 6-for-10 overall from the field, to finish with 18 points. Fellow senior Braydey Hodgins scored 14 points while Jayde Christopher passed out eight assists. For the night, the Bronco seniors combined for 58 of the team's 81 points.
"I thought our kids were really fired up and ready to play. I thought we played pretty good basketball, and our seniors certainly rose to the occasion and sort of the whole team, and I'm so happy with the victory," said Boise State head coach Gordy Presnell.
The Broncos never trailed Monday and led for all but the scoreless opening 20 seconds of the contest. Coleman scored four of Boise State's first six points, then Lupfer hit a 3-pointer in transition to make it 9-2 and force an early UNLV timeout.
Leading 16-12 after the first quarter, the Bronco lead got down to three at 18-15 with 8:42 to go in the first half before the game-deciding run took place. After a pair of free throws from Latecia Smith, who scored 14 points for the Lady Rebels, made it a three-point game, the Broncos went on a 15-2 run fueled by a triple from Lupfer and a three-point play from Coleman to up the lead to 16 at 33-17. Coleman would score the final five points of the half for the Broncos, who took a commanding 43-24 lead into the locker room.
UNLV (13-15, 9-8 MW) briefly made it interesting in the opening minutes of the second half. Rodjanae Wade, who finished the night with a 26-point, 10-rebound double-double, scored six-straight points to bring the Lady Rebels to within 13 at 43-30. But Lupfer's hot shooting again sparked the Broncos, as her triple with six-and-a-half minutes to go woke up the offense to a 10-0 burst that made it a 53-30 game. Lupfer's three-point play with 1:40 to go in the frame got the lead to 28 at 60-32, and the Broncos would eventually lead by 29 entering the final quarter.
With four minutes to play and the Broncos up 31, Presnell was able to give each of the five active seniors their moment, subbing them out individually, beginning with Ellie Woerner with 3:53 on the clock.
I love them and they're just great people and it's just been an honor to be around them," Presnell said about his seniors after the game. "To be part of their lives and they're just…it's an exceptional group of people, both in the classroom and on the court and never had any problems with any of them. I've never had one single problem and so it's hard to see him go."  Â
Following the game, the six seniors on the roster sat together at midcourt, soaking in a few final moments on the ExtraMile Arena hardwood.
"We were on our floor for the last time, it was so sad. We have so much love for each other, and obviously we still have games to play, but it's something special, coming in here two hours before the game, being in the training room, being around those people, and just the camaraderie around all of us. It's just sad, and leaving that floor was so hard," Lupfer said.
With the win, Boise State wrapped up the conference season 13-5 and clinched the No. 2 seed at next week's Mountain West Tournament. The Broncos (21-9 overall) will go for a fourth-straight conference tournament crown and NCAA Tournament bid beginning Monday, March 2, at 7 p.m. MT from the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.
This Monday night in Boise, Coleman scored a career-high 22 points with 10 rebounds, posting her third-straight 20-point game and third double-double of the season. Lupfer hit five 3-pointers, going 5-for-8 from deep and 6-for-10 overall from the field, to finish with 18 points. Fellow senior Braydey Hodgins scored 14 points while Jayde Christopher passed out eight assists. For the night, the Bronco seniors combined for 58 of the team's 81 points.
"I thought our kids were really fired up and ready to play. I thought we played pretty good basketball, and our seniors certainly rose to the occasion and sort of the whole team, and I'm so happy with the victory," said Boise State head coach Gordy Presnell.
The Broncos never trailed Monday and led for all but the scoreless opening 20 seconds of the contest. Coleman scored four of Boise State's first six points, then Lupfer hit a 3-pointer in transition to make it 9-2 and force an early UNLV timeout.
Leading 16-12 after the first quarter, the Bronco lead got down to three at 18-15 with 8:42 to go in the first half before the game-deciding run took place. After a pair of free throws from Latecia Smith, who scored 14 points for the Lady Rebels, made it a three-point game, the Broncos went on a 15-2 run fueled by a triple from Lupfer and a three-point play from Coleman to up the lead to 16 at 33-17. Coleman would score the final five points of the half for the Broncos, who took a commanding 43-24 lead into the locker room.
AND. THE. FOUL.@shantizzzle finishes in transition and completes the And-1! It's a 19-point Bronco lead!#BleedBlue pic.twitter.com/1uVAYt1rka
— Boise State WBB (@BroncoSportsWBB) February 25, 2020
UNLV (13-15, 9-8 MW) briefly made it interesting in the opening minutes of the second half. Rodjanae Wade, who finished the night with a 26-point, 10-rebound double-double, scored six-straight points to bring the Lady Rebels to within 13 at 43-30. But Lupfer's hot shooting again sparked the Broncos, as her triple with six-and-a-half minutes to go woke up the offense to a 10-0 burst that made it a 53-30 game. Lupfer's three-point play with 1:40 to go in the frame got the lead to 28 at 60-32, and the Broncos would eventually lead by 29 entering the final quarter.
🤯🤯🤯@jookieee23 with the steal and the feed, and @rileylupfer2 finishes with the off-hand for the And-1!#BleedBlue pic.twitter.com/Scv2APsCmX
— Boise State WBB (@BroncoSportsWBB) February 25, 2020
With four minutes to play and the Broncos up 31, Presnell was able to give each of the five active seniors their moment, subbing them out individually, beginning with Ellie Woerner with 3:53 on the clock.
I love them and they're just great people and it's just been an honor to be around them," Presnell said about his seniors after the game. "To be part of their lives and they're just…it's an exceptional group of people, both in the classroom and on the court and never had any problems with any of them. I've never had one single problem and so it's hard to see him go."  Â
Following the game, the six seniors on the roster sat together at midcourt, soaking in a few final moments on the ExtraMile Arena hardwood.
"We were on our floor for the last time, it was so sad. We have so much love for each other, and obviously we still have games to play, but it's something special, coming in here two hours before the game, being in the training room, being around those people, and just the camaraderie around all of us. It's just sad, and leaving that floor was so hard," Lupfer said.
Team Stats
UNLV
Boise
FG%
.353
.491
3FG%
.333
.409
FT%
.600
.941
RB
29
34
TO
16
14
STL
5
8
Game Leaders
Pts
22
FGM
9
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
18
FGM
6
3FGM
5
FTM
1
Pts
14
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
Guard
/ Women's Basketball
Forward
/ Women's Basketball
Guard
/ Women's Basketball
Guard
/ Women's Basketball
Guard
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