A night after an easy go of things in a 85-49 opening round victory over Utah State in the Mountain West tournament, the no. 6 Broncos found themselves in a fight with the no. 3 seed Wyoming Cowgirls.
Spearheaded by a gritty effort from Mya Hansen, the Broncos knocked down 8-17 from deep and used a late 14-0 run to defeat Wyoming 62-54 in quarterfinal action.
Hansen went to work on both ends of the floor. She knocked down huge shots. Found herself in the middle of loose balls. And was able to draw two offensive fouls on Wyoming players, all while managing to score a game-high 20 points.
Hansen was 3-5 on three-point attempts, tossing in four assists and one rebound, block, and steal.
Defense was a big reason the Broncos advanced to the semifinals, though Boise State did start out slow in that department. But the second unit clamped down at the end of the second quarter and, in the fourth, Boise State held the Cowgirls (16-14) to 10 points on 3-17 shooting.
Wyoming scored only one field goal in the game's last six minutes.
Natalie Pasco added 10 points for the Broncos and Tatum Thompson scored nine.
Allyson Fertig, who the Broncos held to two points in the last meeting between the teams, was much better this time around. Fertig finished with 16 points, nine rebounds, and made things difficult for Boise State by blocking seven shots.
Boise State will face the seventh seed San Diego State Aztecs, who picked up a 67-56 victory over New Mexico earlier Tuesday. The Broncos and Aztecs split their two meetings in the regular season, with each winning on their home floors.
First half
Abby Muse, fresh off her triple-double Monday night against the Aggies, got the scoring going for the Broncos. This began a stretch of the teams trading spurts in the game's first five minutes and a Hansen three gave Boise State a 10-8 lead.
Wyoming rattled off an 11-1 run and built a lead to eight. Boise State did have some trouble on defense in that first quarter, giving up too many easy layups.
Hansen scored 10 of Boise State's 12 points in the quarter, thankfully keeping the Broncos within seven.
The second quarter initially gave off the same results but efforts by members of the bench amped up the intensity for Boise State. Trista Hull provided a spark (finishing with nine rebounds) and combined with the likes of Linsey Lovrovich, Dani Bayes, and Thompson to keep Wyoming off balance.
Pasco warmed up, too, with her three tying the game at 25. A Hansen basket at 1:43 gave the Broncos the lead as Wyoming went over four minutes without a point.
Wyoming found some offense in the closing minute and took a 29-27 lead to the locker room.
Hull had five first-half rebounds. Despite cold shooting (11-31), Boise State was able to keep things close because of Wyoming turnovers (nine) while committing only three of their own.
Second half
A slow start again threatened to doom Boise State, falling behind 39-31 in the first five minutes of the third quarter. A three-pointer by Bayes jumpstarted a 7-0 run. But Wyoming kept the Broncos at arm's length, holding a four-point lead entering the fourth quarter.
A quick 7-2 run, capped by Hansen three with 6:34 left, gave Boise State their first lead since the second quarter. Wyoming responded, going up 50-47. When Elodie Lalotte found Pasco on a perfect backdoor cut at the 4:39 mark, Pasco's layup gave the Broncos a 51-50 lead they would never relinquish.
Boise State was 5-8 on three-point attempts in the second half.
Muse finished with eight points and Mary Kay Naro added seven.
Lalotte, despite only scoring three points, had five rebounds and dished out four assists. Naro and Hull notched three apiece.
Along with the offensive output, the Broncos finished with only nine turnovers.
Wyoming finished with 15 turnovers and connected on only 4-17 from three-point range. Malene Pedersen scored 13, connecting on 6-10 from the field.
Pedersen and Fertig were a combined 12-19, with rest of the team shooting 10-33.
Boise State has ratcheted up their defense and seen better ball movement the last two games. With a chance to play in the tournament final on the line tomorrow, the Broncos will need both to get back for the first time since 2020.
Schedule for semifinals (3/12). All times Pacific
- #1 UNLV Lady Rebels vs #5 Colorado State Rams - 5 p.m.
- #6 Boise State Broncos vs #7 San Diego State Aztecs - 7:30 p.m.
photo credit: Jason Haskins
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