Boise State women lose big lead vs. Fresno State, and perhaps conference title hopes

All streaks must come to an end. Unfortunately for the Boise State women’s basketball team, the end of their run of seven straight victories against Fresno State could prove costly.

The Bulldogs topped the Broncos 85-80 on Saturday at ExtraMile Arena in a game that could serve as a nail in the coffin of Boise State’s chances at finishing first in the Mountain West.

The Broncos were up by 17 points with 3 minutes left in the second quarter, went into halftime with a 40-30 advantage and led 60-50 going into the fourth quarter. But Fresno State finished the game hot, shooting 10-15 in the final frame and outscoring Boise State by 15 points to end another Broncos streak — 18 straight Mountain West home wins.

“We gave up 35 points in the fourth quarter,” Boise State head coach Gordy Presnell said. “You aren’t going to win any game, at any level, giving up 35 points in a quarter.”

Despite allowing Fresno State to come back, Boise State had a chance to tie the game at the end. With 3 seconds remaining and the Broncos down by three, senior guard Riley Lupfer had the ball stolen by two seperate Fresno State players as she went up for a 3-point attempt. The crowd, and most of Boise State’s bench, were yelling for a foul call, but no whistle came.

“It was a foul,” junior center Mallory McGwire said after the game. “There’s nothing else to say. It was not a good call, but there’s nothing we can do about it now. We just move on to the next.”

McGwire finished the game with 19 points and 14 rebounds. Braydey Hodgins scored 13, and Lupfer added 12 for the Broncos. On the other side, Haley Cavinder had 25 points for Fresno State, 10 of which came in the fourth quarter.

“Nobody wants to be up by 20-plus and lose,” McGwire said. “It’s just something you have to work on. It doesn’t come overnight. We are not going to beat San Jose by 20 next game. We are going to have to lock down, work on what we need to work on, and prepare for the next game.”

The Broncos continue to struggle with keeping big leads. In their three most recent losses, they have held double-digit leads during the game and led at the start of each fourth quarter, only to get outscored down the stretch. Coach Presnell said it won’t keep his team down though.

“We are going to keep competing,” Presnell said. “We will keep fighting and keep battling. We have a bunch of kids that want to win. We will keep trying.”

After the loss to Fresno State, Boise State is now three games back in the Mountain West standings and won’t be able to regain the tiebreaker as this was their only matchup against the Bulldogs. However, players said the real prize is after the regular season.

“The regular season is super cool,” Hodgins said. “But it doesn’t really mean anything if you don’t get the job done (at the Mountain West Tournament) in Vegas. Everything we want is still out there.”

“You want to focus on finishing your season strong,” McGwire said. “But there is light at the end of the tunnel. That is the Mountain West championship. I think we take it day by day, and if we do, the results we want will be at the end.”

Next up, Boise State travel to San Jose State on Wednesday, January 29th to take on the Spartans.

BOX SCORE

Fresno St. vs Boise St. 01/25/20 1:00 pm at Boise, ID

At Boise, ID

FRESNO ST. 85, BOISE ST. 80

FRESNO ST. (16-4, 9-0 Mountain West)

Haley Cavinder 7-15 7-8 25; Maddi Utti 8-18 4-6 21; Hanna Cavinder 5-10 4-514; Kendyll Kinzer 3-8 0-0 8; Aly Gamez 2-7 3-4 7; Genna Ogier 2-3 2-2 6; Wytalla Motta 2-4 0-1 4; Bree Delaney 0-0 0-0 0; Brooke Walling 0-1 0-0 0; Jordanna Porter 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-67 20-26 85.

BOISE ST. (14-7, 6-3 Mountain West)

Mallory McGwire 8-16 0-2 19; Braydey Hodgins 3-8 6-6 13; Riley Lupfer 4-90-0 12; Ellie Woerner 4-6 2-2 11; A’Shanti Coleman 5-7 0-0 10; Maggie Freeman 2-4 4-4 8; Rachel Bowers 1-4 2-2 4; Jayde Christopher 1-8 1-2 3; Jade Loville 0-6 0-0 0. Totals 28-68 15-18 80.

Fresno St..................... 12 18 20 35 - 85

Boise St...................... 19 21 20 20 - 80

3-point goals--Fresno St. 7-21 (Haley Cavinder 4-9; Kendyll Kinzer 2-6; Maddi Utti 1-2; Jordanna Porter 0-1; Aly Gamez 0-2; Hanna Cavinder 0-1), Boise St. 9-22 (Riley Lupfer 4-8; Mallory McGwire 3-4; Ellie Woerner 1-1; Braydey Hodgins 1-4; Jayde Christopher 0-3; Maggie Freeman 0-1; A’Shanti Coleman 0-1).

Fouled out--Fresno St.-None, Boise St.-None.

Rebounds--Fresno St. 39 (Haley Cavinder 9), Boise St. 41 (Mallory McGwire 14).

Assists--Fresno St. 9 (Aly Gamez 3; Haley Cavinder 3), Boise St. 17 (Jayde Christopher 8).

Total fouls--Fresno St. 17, Boise St. 21. Technical fouls--Fresno St.-None, Boise St.-None.

This story was originally published January 25, 2020 at 5:22 PM.