Broncos Drop Road Contest at No. 24 UNLV

Wednesday, February 28

Las Vegas, Nev.

7:30 p.m. MT

Boise State

19-10,10-6Mountain West

UNLV

25-2,15-1Mountain West

Boise St.

UNLV

2/28/2024 9:39:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

LAS VEGAS – Boise State women's basketball led for a majority of the game, but No. 24 UNLV used a dominant fourth quarter to pull away 63-57, Wednesday night at Cox Pavilion.

Mya Hansen and Tatum Thompson and were dominant in the second half, combining to score 21 points over the final 20 minutes for the Broncos (19-10, 10-6 Mountain West). However the Lady Rebels (25-2, 15-1 MW) outscored the Blue and Orange 17-8 in the final frame to claim the victory.

After UNLV jumped out to a 6-2 start, Dani Bayes and Alyssa Christensen hit two 3-pointers to take an 8-6 lead. The Lady Rebels tied it up with a layup, but Linsey Lovrovich and Bayes scored on back-to-back possessions to give Boise State a four-point advantage. Lovrovich scored again with a left-handed layup with 20 seconds left in the quarter as the Broncos led 14-8 after the first ten.

UNLV opened the second stanza with a 3-pointer, but Thompson matched it with an old-fashioned 3-point play. The Lady Rebels battled back, tying the game at 25 with two minutes remaining in the half. Mary Kay Naro answered with a 3-pointer from the top of the key on the next possession, and Boise State held on to take a 28-27 lead to the locker room.

Hansen and Thompson started their second half takeover, combining to score 10 points in the first five minutes as the Broncos led 40-35 at the media timeout. The duo continued their dominance throughout the quarter, combining for 17 of the team's 21 points in the period as Boise State took a 49-46 advantage to the final frame.

Christensen opened the quarter with a layup, but UNLV responded with a 10-2 run to take a 56-53 lead with 6:23 left. The two teams went scoreless for over three minutes, with the Lady Rebels breaking the drought with a layup with 2:45 remaining. Thompson responded with a pull-up jumper to cut the lead to 58-55 with 2:27 left on the clock.

After UNLV hit a jump shot on the next possession, Thompson once again drove to the lane, finishing a layup to bring the Broncos back within three with 1:29 to go. The Lady Rebels converted a layup on their next possession, then forced a Bronco turnover on the other end. UNLV went 1-of-2 from the free throw line to go up six with 29.5 seconds left. Boise State couldn't convert on its final possession as UNLV held on to clinch the victory.

Top Broncos

Tatum Thompson scored 11 of her 14 points in the second half. The sophomore finished 6-of-11 from the floor and pulled down seven rebounds.
Mya Hansen also had a dominant second half, scoring 10 of her 12 points in the second half.
Abby Muse recorded six points and seven rebounds.

Notables

Boise State outrebounded UNLV 35-33.
Thirty-two of Boise State's 57 points came from the bench.
The Broncos shot 9-of-11 (81.8%) in the third quarter.
Mya Hansen (10) and Tatum Thompson (7) scored 17 of the team's 21 points in the third period.
Trista Hull tied graduate assistant Rachel Bowers for 16th place in the program's record book with 71 career blocks.

Quotables

"We lost by six. We couldn't score down the stretch of the game. It was just one of those things. Hopefully we can learn from it and execute better moving forward." – head coach Gordy Presnell

"I thought Tatum really showed up tonight and played a high-level game. There's a lot of good takeaways to come from this but it's always hard to lose." - Presnell

What's Next

Boise State concludes its regular season home schedule on Saturday, March 2, against Air Force at 2 p.m. MT. Saturday's game is Senior Day with Boise State honoring its seniors in a pregame ceremony. The contest will be broadcast on the MW Network and on 670 KBOI AM.