Broncos win women’s MW championship
A No. 4 seed Boise State secured its first Mountain West conference tournament title Friday defeating the No. 2 seed New Mexico 66-60.
“When we started, the number one goal we had was finish,” said Boise State guard Brooke Pahukoa, the tournament’s most valuable player. “We have this big pyramid. It says: Finish on the top. When we were down during the season, when we lost some games we shouldn’t have, it was tough for us.”
The Broncos led wire-to-wire in the game. The Lobos kept it close the entire night but couldn’t gain control of the game. Sophomore guard Yaiza Rodriguez led Boise State with 18 points on 5-of-10 shooting and also had four assists. Pahukoa had 16 points and forward Miquelle Askew had 12 points on an effective 4-of-5 shooting from the floor.
“We just kind of grinded it out and never stopped believing,” said Boise State coach Gordy Presnell. “You know, we let them get it down to five but never let them get all the way back into it. I was really proud of them. I thought Yaiza was terrific. She kept calling the same pick’n roll over and over and over. Brooke has been all in. It’s been a great run. They’re Boise State believers, both of them, and we’re excited about the win.”
For New Mexico guard Antiesha Brown had 23 points and six rebounds. Following Brown was Khadija Shumpert who scored 17 points in the game.
“They played a tremendous game,” said New Mexico head coach Yvonne Sanchez. “They definitely had the pieces in place to win this conference. They did a great job. My hat is off to them. They did a terrific job. They took us out of what we wanted to do. They’re going to represent the Mountain West Conference very, very well.”
The road to the final for Boise included a 76-67 win over the eighth seeded San Jose State Spartans. New Mexico beat Fresno State 64-53 to get into the game. Have a look at this sports betting sites to see betting opportunities for this sports
“San Jose is a really good team,” Pahukoa said after the San Jose State game. “They like to run the ball. They like to pressure you. We’re more of a composed halfcourt team. When we have a point guard like Yaiza who can read the floor really well, it makes it easy.”
With the win Boise State moved to 22-10 on the season and the team is headed to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2007. This is the third trip for Boise State to the big dance, and the Broncos are 0-2 in their previous two trips to the tournament.
Boise State received a No. 15 seed and will face off against No. 2 Tennessee in its first game.
— kalen.s.taylor@gmail.com
Twitter: @kalen_taylor