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Tonight was the Broncos women's senior night and a white out for the crowd. To honor the seniors, Miquelle Askew, and Lexie Der started the matchup (the other senior Dufurrena is out with an injury).
Tonight's starters have 1 change, the Broncos will start Lexie Der a senior in place of Shaw.
— Boise State W BB (@BroncoSportsWBB) March 5, 2016
Rodriguez, Hermida, Brooke Pahukoa, Der, Askew
The Broncos came up big for the senior's tonight and beat the San José State Spartans in Taco Bell Arena 81-69.
FINAL Boise State defeats SJSU 81-69 to take 3rd place in the league. pic.twitter.com/vpINOL9Uu3
— Boise State W BB (@BroncoSportsWBB) March 5, 2016
The Broncos were led by the sharp-shooting Brooke Pahukoa with 26 points, 8-14 from the three. She also added 10 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals for an impressive night. For the Broncos to make a run in the conference tournament, they are going to need for her to stay on fire shooting the ball.
Askew had 9 points and a rebound.
Der 2 points, a rebound, and an assist.
Shay Shaw bounced back from a slow stretch with her own double-double. Shaw contributed 19 points, 13 rebounds, and added 2 assists and steals. She had a hit a rough patch over the last several games where she could not record her usual double-double. The Broncos are fortunate for her to find her groove. She will be an integral part of any successful Boise State showing.
Yaiza Rodriguez contributed 6 points, 2 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals for the game.
With this win over the Spartans, the Broncos are now the #3 seed in the Mountain West tournament.
It’s official - the #MWMadness bracket is set! Action gets started on Monday. Details at https://t.co/0BYoOixWGg! pic.twitter.com/aUZVpxtGy5
— MW Womens Basketball (@MW_WHoops) March 5, 2016
At this side of the bracket, if the Broncos get past either UNLV or Air Force they will face Fresno State just the second time. The last time out the Broncos fell 62-57.
If the Broncos were to make it past the Bulldogs, they would face the Colorado State Rams. Unfortunately for the Broncos neither game ended in their favor. The first outing the Broncos lost 68-64. Did not get much better the second time around as they lost 83-51. And that lost certainly did not bode well for the Broncos because it was the first of a four game losing streak.
The road for the Broncos is going to be a slog. None of the games are going to be gimmees and then (potentially) facing the #2 and #1 teams in succession is another hill to climb. Anything can happen in these tournaments and if they get on a hot-streak, they could repeat as tournament champions.
A very strong good luck to the Broncos!