Thompson's Career Night Leads Broncos Past Bulldogs

Wednesday, January 31

Fresno, Calif.

7 p.m. MT

Boise State

14-8,5-4Mountain West

Fresno State

10-12,3-6Mountain West

Boise St.

Fresno St.

1/31/2024 9:21:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

FRESNO, Calif. – A career performance from Tatum Thompson led Boise State women's basketball over Fresno State, 60-50, on Wednesday night.

The sophomore finished with a career-high 21 points on the night, scoring 15 in the second half. She finished 6-of-11 from the floor, 7-of-11 from the free throw line and 2-of-2 from deep. Natalie Pasco added 14 points for the Broncos (14-8, 5-4 Mountain West).

Pasco started the game with a pair of 3-pointers as the Broncos led 10-5 at the first media timeout. Abby Muse and Thompson added four points each in the opening frame, and Dani Bayes netted a 3-pointer with 46 seconds remaining to give Boise State a 19-11 first quarter lead.

The Bulldogs (10-12, 3-6 MW) responded with a 9-0 run to open the second quarter to take a 20-19 advantage. Pasco ended the Bronco draught with her third triple of the night, and Mya Hansen followed up with a layup to give the squad a 24-20 lead midway through the period. The two teams remained balanced the remainder of the half as the Broncos led 28-25 at the half.

Boise State netted the first four points of the period, but the Bulldogs responded with a 7-0 run to tie the game at 32. After Elodie Lalotte responded with a basket, Fresno State rattled off six-straight points to take a 38-34 lead. Enter Thompson, who scored nine-straight points for the Broncos to give the team a 43-42 lead entering the final frame.

Thompson continued her hot streak in the early minutes of the final quarter, scoring five points to spur a 7-0 run to give Boise State a 50-42 lead. The Broncos expanded their lead to 10 with a layup from Muse with 3:32 to go and Pasco hit a 3-pointer a minute later to secure the victory.

Top Broncos

Tatum Thompson scored 15 of her career-high 21 points in the second half. The sophomore also matched her career-high with seven rebounds.
Natalie Pasco made four 3-pointers to finish with 14 points.
Abby Muse recorded eight points, five rebounds and five blocks.

Notables

Trailing 38-34 with 4:23 in the third quarter, Tatum Thompson scored 14 of Boise State's next 16 points as the Broncos took a 50-42 lead with 8:35 left in the game.
Thompson became the third Bronco to eclipse the 20-point threshold this season, joining Dani Bayes and Natalie Pasco.
Mary Kay Naro dished out five assists, marking the 10th time this season the senior has dished out five or more assists in a game.
Abby Muse blocked five shots in the contest, marking the seventh game this season the senior has blocked five or more shots.
With five blocks in the contest, Muse moved into third place on the program's single-season block list with 74 blocks. The senior, who broke the program record last season with 93 blocks, entered the contest tied with Stephanie Block, who recorded 69 blocked shots during the 1999-00 season.
Muse also moved into the top 20 in program history with 211 career free throws. The senior passed JoAnn Burrell (1974-78), who made 210 free throws in her career.

Quotables

"Tatum came up big today. She didn't play real well the other night, but really got after it in practice. She really committed herself and I'm glad it paid off for her today. I'm really pumped for her. She could have put up the white flag after her last game. Instead she got extra shots up outside of practice for a couple of days in a row and it all paid off for her today. I'm excited for her." – head coach Gordy Presnell

What's Next

Boise State will be off on Saturday before hosting San Jose State on Wednesday, Feb. 7. Tipoff is at 6:30 p.m. MT and will be broadcast on the MW Network and 670 KBOI AM.