Hope remains in winning the Mountain West tournament, but the Broncos face a difficult road to achieve such dreams.
After a 10-3 non-conference slate, a deep and experienced Boise State (17-14, 7-11) team expected to contend for a conference title faltered. Losses and frustration mounted, with the result for the Broncos an eighth-place finish in an ultra-competitive conference.
A five-game losing streak took place in the back half of conference play and the Broncos lost seven of nine to close the regular season. Woes took place in the occasional blowout loss but seven of Boise State's conference losses were by eight points or less. Often, these losses were results of one bad quarter or the inability to close out games.
Turnovers were a major issue the last three weeks. Missed shots at or near the rim hampered the Broncos, too. In close losses, both issues made all the difference.
Despite the disappointing record, hopes for Boise State are not completely shot. Boise State holds regular season wins over Wyoming, New Mexico, and Air Force. Teams that all finished ahead of the Broncos. Boise State also lost to regular season champion UNLV by four points in their first meeting.
Tournament play in Las Vegas begins on Sunday (3/9) for the Broncos, where they meet up with ninth seed Nevada at 3 p.m. (MT).
Boise State vs Nevada: Season recap
Boise State and the Nevada Wolf Pack (11-20, 6-12) split their two regular season meetings. The Broncos won by eight in Boise and the Wolf Pack returned the favor, winning by eight in Reno.
In the first meeting, Nevada led by two at halftime, only to score seven points in the third quarter, with Boise State picking up a 61-53 victory.
The second time around, the Broncos led most of the game. Boise State led by eight at the half and three entering the fourth quarter, ultimately falling 69-61.
Hampering the Broncos in the loss was a 4 of 20 performance from three-point range. Opponent shooting percentage and rebounds also told a story for Boise State in both games. In the victory, the Broncos held Nevada to 32.2 percent from the field and a rebound advantage of four.
In the Nevada victory, despite committing 19 turnovers, the Wolf Pack shot 47.2 percent and had 18 more rebounds than the Broncos.
Lexie Givens had 37 points in the two games for Nevada. Audrey Roden, who did not score and had five rebounds in the Wolf Pack loss, delivered in the victory with 16 points, 12 rebounds, and six assists.
For Boise State, Natalie Pasco had 25 points in the two games. Tatum Thompson had 24 points and 14 rebounds and Dani Bayes scored 22.
Bronco stat leaders
Throughout the season, head coach Gordy Presnell deployed 10 to 12 players each game for the Boise State Broncos. A deep roster certainly helped, with multiple players capable of putting up stellar numbers in any given game.
Thompson was the most consistent, leading the team with 13.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Thompson's play has only improved as the season progressed, averaging 18 points and 8.8 rebounds in their last five games.
Thompson only had three conference games in which she scored under 10 points, twice scoring 25 and finishing the regular season with six double-doubles.
Pasco was not far behind in the scoring department, dropping 12.9 points per game. The junior led Boise State with 64 made three-pointers.
Bayes and Mya Hansen combined for 85 made threes. Between these two and Pasco, one of the trio comes off the bench. (Though, as of this writing, Hansen's availability is unknown for the Mountain West tournament. The junior hurt her knee in a late-season loss to UNLV and missed the last two contests).
Senior Abby Muse collected 5.9 rebounds per game and point guard Mary Kay Naro has 125 assists against only 49 turnovers.
Success in the tournament will boil down to taking care of the ball and simply taking their time around the rim. Defense will factor heavily and this team can slog it out with the best of them. In the opening round matchup with Nevada, three-point shooting and rebounding will be the two key areas to keep an eye on.
Mountain West tourney: Other first round games
Boise State against Nevada is the opening game for this year's Mountain West tournament, followed by two other opening round matchups.
Following the meeting between the Broncos and Wolf Pack will be a game between the seventh-seed Air Force Falcons (17-13, 7-11) and tenth seed Utah State Aggies (4-26, 3-15)
Air Force swept the season series, winning by 12 at home and five on the road. The Falcons enter the tournament having won three of five, closing out the regular season with a three-point loss at New Mexico. Utah State's three conference wins came against San Jose State (twice) and Nevada.
In the final game on Sunday, the sixth seed Fresno State Bulldogs (17-14, 8-10) take on the eleventh seed San Jose State Spartans (10-21, 3-15). The Bulldogs won the season series with an average margin of victory of 13.5 points.
Both teams are slumping entering the tournament. Fresno State lost four straight and six of eight to close the regular season. The Spartans lost six straight, with their only conference wins coming over Nevada, Air Force, and San Diego State.
UNLV (24-6, 16-2) is again the cream of the Mountain West crop. Their two losses arrived at the hands of San Diego State (by 1) and second place Wyoming. The Cowgirls (20-10, 14-4) defeated UNLV 71-66 to close the regular season and won nine of their last ten games.
Colorado State (22-9, 13-5), prior to splitting their final four games, had won five straight.
The quarterfinal matchup already set is between San Diego State (22-9, 11-7) and the New Mexico Lobos (18-13, 11-7). The teams split the season series and both enter the tournament on high notes. The Aztecs have won five in a row and the Lobos five of six.
March basketball is made for special runs and upstart underdogs. In being the latter, the Broncos will need the former to advance. A first-round victory for Boise State means a quarterfinal meeting with top seed UNLV. Needing to be near perfect in their pursuit, it is the time of year where "never say never" thrives, and the unexpected is the norm. For the Broncos, this will be a mantra to live by, hoping to ascend to the top of the throne for the first time since 2020.
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