Broncos Drop Home Contest to Grand Canyon

Saturday, January 3

Boise, Idaho

2 p.m.

Boise State

3-11,2-2Mountain West

Grand Canyon

10-5,1-3Mountain West

Grand Canyon

Boise St.

1/3/2026 4:37:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Gamebook

BOISE, Idaho – Boise State's fourth quarter comeback attempt comes up short as the Broncos lose 87-76 to Grand Canyon, Saturday afternoon.

Libby Hutton and Tatum Thompson each posted double-doubles, but it wasn't enough as Boise State (10-5, 1-3 Mountain West) came up short in ExtraMile Arena.

Dani Bayes opened the scoring with a 3-pointer, giving the Broncos an early lead. Grand Canyon (3-11, 2-2) answered soon after, as Kaitlyn Elsholz got the Lopes on the board with a bucket in her first career start for Grand Canyon. By the first media timeout, the Broncos had jumped out to a 9-2 lead. Bayes knocked down another triple to push the lead to double digits, Boise State's largest of the game.

The Lopes responded with a 7-0 run, but was ended by a Morgan Maldonado layup. The Broncos held a 18-16 advantage heading into the second quarter.

Grand Canyon came out strong in the second, with Julianna LaMendola scoring first, however it was followed just 18 seconds later by Tatum Thompson. Elsholz tied the game with a driving layup and Anisa Jeffries sank two free throws to give the Lopes their first lead of the night at 24-22 with 7:04 remaining in the half.

Hutton added a second-chance jumper at the 4:35 mark and Mya Hansen followed with a basket before the Broncos went scoreless for the final three minutes of the half. The Lopes capitalized on the drought, draining a 3-pointer on four-straight possessions to close the half with a 44-33 lead.

Chloe Mann led Grand Canyon at the break with 13 points and five rebounds, while Bayes paced the Broncos with nine points.

Ines Zounia opened the second half with a second-chance layup. Bayes followed with her third triple of the game at the 8:01 mark, giving the Broncos their first points off a turnover, then added a layup to snap a field-goal drought of more than two minutes.

Kenna Garza scored her first points of the night on a layup, and the quarter closed with a Bayes steal that led to a Tatum Thompson layup as Boise State trailed 66-57.

Hansen scored the opening points of the fourth quarter with a driving layup, then knocked down a three to cut the Lopes' lead to 66-62 with 8:03 remaining. Hutton scored back-to-back baskets, tying the game at 66-66. Bayes came up with a key block on a Mann 3-pointer, but Anisa Jeffries answered with a jumper to regain the lead for Grand Canyon.

Boise State briefly pulled ahead, 73-70, during a 13-0 run to start the quarter. Thompson converted an and-one to narrow the deficit to 78-74, but the Lopes pulled away, handing the Broncos an 87-76 loss.

Top Broncos

Dani Bayes notched 23 points and three steals.
Tatum Thompson tallied 19 points, 13 rebounds and four assists.
Libby Hutton scored 13 points and 11 boards.

Notables

Dani Bayes reached the 1,000-point milestone, upping her career total to 1,002 points.
Libby Hutton notched her third double-double of her career, all occurring this season.
Hutton recorded a career-high 11 rebounds.
Morgan Maldonado played a career-high 16:27 minutes.
Maldonado dished out two assists, tying her career-high.
Tatum Thompson joined the 1,000-point club, raising her career total to 1,003 points.
Tatum Thompson reached the 500-rebound milestone in her career with a total of 504.
Tatum Thompson recorded her fifth double-double of the season and 12th of her career.
Boise State put together its largest run of the season, going on a 13–0 surge in the fourth quarter.
Grand Canyon evened the all-time series against Boise State at 1-1.

Quotables
"We really struggle with physicality and Grand Canyon is very physical," head coach Gordy Presnell said. "It limits us when we can't adjust to the physicality and the speed of the game. That was a really tough loss and we have to figure out a way to move forward."

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