Assists come with ease for Boise State men; women ‘electric’ in Broncos’ SJSU sweep
Perhaps it is muscle memory at this point, or maybe a strategically placed pair of eyes in the back of Jayde Christopher’s head.
Either way, the reason seems much less consequential than the result — the Boise State women’s basketball team has regained its familiar late-season form.
With Christopher skillfully directing the offense, the Broncos dismantled San Jose State 85-67 in Mountain West action Wednesday night at ExtraMile Arena. The victory avenges a 74-61 loss to the Spartans in January and maintains the Broncos’ hold on second place in the conference standings.
“It was just a great night, and I felt like Jayde Christopher was just electric,” Boise State coach Gordy Presnell said. “She threw some passes that we didn’t catch and some unbelievable passes that completed. I thought our sense of timing for the first time was like our old teams, where we hit shots when we had to hit shots, and in the past we haven’t done that.”
Christopher registered a double-double with 14 points and 12 assists, padding her single-season program record to 222 assists. The lightning-quick redshirt senior point guard set up her teammates with behind-the-back, no-look and mid-air passes to recapture some of the chemistry that has been absent at times this season. Christopher’s generosity helped pave the way for a balanced effort, with five Broncos scoring in double figures for only the second time in 16 league games.
“I love playing with her. She’s a very good point guard,” said Boise State senior A’Shanti Coleman, who had 20 points and nine rebounds. “Sometimes she doesn’t have to look at you. Sometimes we’ll look at each other side-eye and you know when she drives the ball, just cut and have your hands ready to go.”
Boise State has now won three in a row and needs victories in its final two regular-season games to lock up the No. 2 seed in the Mountain West Tournament. The Broncos are already assured a first-round bye in the March 1-4 tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, where Boise State’s senior class has gone an impressive 9-0 the last three seasons.
“We’re just trying to live in the moment and just enjoy our experiences and create memories, because we have no idea when it will end,” Coleman said.
While the Broncos (19-9, 11-5 MW) were putting the finishing touches on their win over the Spartans (15-11, 9-6), a seismic shift in Mountain West momentum occurred at an arena 875 miles away. First-place Fresno State (22-5, 15-1) saw its 15-game conference winning streak snapped at the hands of second-to-last-place Air Force, 88-65.
“Maybe other teams are vulnerable, too,” Presnell said. “Maybe we can start getting on a roll.”
The Broncos play their final regular-season road game Saturday against New Mexico (14-14, 5-10). Tipoff is 2 p.m. at The Pit in Albuquerque. The game will be streamed live by the Mountain West Network, which is available at BroncoSports.com/mwn.
Men’s basketball: Boise State 80, San Jose State 62
Aside from an Alex Hobbs layup and RJ Williams putback, every Boise State bucket inside Provident Credit Union Event Center on Wednesday night came with a helping hand.
The Broncos racked up 29 assists on 31 made field goals against San Jose State to win for the seventh time in their last nine Mountain West games. The 29 assists are the most since Nov. 21, 2007, when the Broncos had 31 against Montana Tech. It is three short of tying the program record of 32 that dates back to 1976.
“Coach told us from the beginning that in order to beat these guys, we’re gonna have to pass the ball and make simple plays,” Boise State junior forward Abu Kigab told Bob Behler in a postgame radio interview on 670 AM.
“I thought we did a pretty good job of that, and (the win) took care of itself.”
Kigab was one of five Broncos to reach double figures, scoring 16 points with six rebounds and four assists. Senior guard Justinian Jessup contributed 20 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals, and Williams (13 points), Robin Jorch (12 points) and Derrick Alston Jr. (10 points) rounded out a balanced effort for the Broncos.
Freshman guard RayJ Dennis passed out a career-high eight assists in a game where seven different Broncos had two or more assists. Boise State also shot a combined 57.4 percent from the floor to make amends for a season-high 21 turnovers.
“Sometimes your high-assist games are your high-turnover games, too,” Boise State coach Leon Rice told 670 AM. “Because you have to take some risks sometimes, and those risks lead to a basket.”
With the win, the Broncos (18-10, 10-6 MW) move up a spot to fourth in the Mountain West standings with two regular-season games to go. They are a half-game back of third-place Nevada (17-10, 10-5) and 1.5 games behind No. 2 Utah State (22-7, 11-5).
By reaching the 10-win mark in league games, the Broncos have won at least 10 Mountain West games in five of the last six seasons. It’s an accomplishment only Fresno State, San Diego State and Nevada can claim during the same span.
The Broncos play their final home game of the season Sunday against New Mexico (17-11, 6-9). The 2 p.m. contest on CBS Sports Network will be the last inside ExtraMile Arena for the Broncos’ five seniors.
“I don’t want to think too much about that yet, because we’ve got some basketball to play,” Rice said. “Senior night is about how hard we play for those seniors and how the community gets to support them.”
MEN: BOISE ST. 80, SAN JOSE ST. 62
BOISE ST. (18-10, 10-6 MW)
Kigab 8-14 0-0 16, Alston 4-9 0-0 10, Dennis 1-1 2-2 5, Jessup 7-13 2-2 20, Williams 4-6 5-7 13, Jorch 6-6 0-0 12, Hobbs 1-3 2-2 4, Dickinson 0-1 0-0 0, Rice 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 31-54 11-13 80.
SAN JOSE ST. (7-20, 3-12 MW)
Anigwe 3-4 3-7 9, Hammonds 0-2 0-0 0, Ivey 1-4 3-3 6, Washington 6-14 1-2 16, Knight 8-18 4-5 23, Chappell 2-9 1-2 6, Moore 1-3 0-0 2, Smith 0-3 0-0 0, Lane 0-1 0-0 0, Agee 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-58 12-19 62.
Halftime—Boise St. 36-31. 3-Point Goals—Boise St. 7-17 (Jessup 4-7, Alston 2-4, Dennis 1-1, Dickinson 0-1, Rice 0-1, Kigab 0-3), San Jose St. 8-30 (Knight 3-8, Washington 3-8, Chappell 1-4, Ivey 1-4, Anigwe 0-1, Hammonds 0-1, Moore 0-1, Smith 0-3). Fouled Out—Agee. Rebounds—Boise St. 33 (Kigab, Jessup, Williams 6), San Jose St. 23 (Anigwe 9). Assists—Boise St. 29 (Dennis 8), San Jose St. 13 (Moore 4). Total Fouls—Boise St. 18, San Jose St. 16. A—1,339 (5,000).
WOMEN: BOISE ST. 85, SAN JOSE ST. 67
SAN JOSE ST. (15-11, 9-6 MW)
Tyra Whitehead 6-14 4-4 16; Cydni Lewis 5-10 1-2 11; Fieme’a Hafoka 5-11 0-0 11; Raziya Potter 5-10 0-1 10; Ayzhiana Basallo 1-6 6-6 8; Courtesy Clark 2-3 2-2 6; Danae Marquez 0-6 4-4 4; Megan Anderson 0-5 1-2 1; Alexis Harris 0-0 0-0 0; Miyah Lewis-Hampton 0-0 0-0 0; Kalina Obrey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-65 18-21 67.
BOISE ST. (19-9, 11-5 MW)
A’Shanti Coleman 9-16 2-2 20; Riley Lupfer 6-10 0-0 18; Jayde Christopher 5-7 3-4 14; Mallory McGwire 5-8 0-0 13; Jade Loville 3-7 5-8 11; Braydey Hodgins 2-7 0-0 5; Ellie Woerner 1-5 0-0 2; Rachel Bowers 1-2 0-0 2; Laia Soler 0-0 0-0 0; Maggie Freeman 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 32-65 10-14 85.
San Jose St................... 9 19 18 21 — 67
Boise St...................... 19 19 29 18 — 85
3-point goals — San Jose St. 1-15 (Hafoka 1-2; Lewis 0-2; Potter 0-1; Clark 0-1; Marquez 0-4; Anderson 0-5), Boise St. 11-25 (Lupfer 6-10; McGwire 3-4; Christopher 1-2; Hodgins 1-3; Freeman 0-2; Woerner 0-2; Coleman 0-2). Fouled out — None. Rebounds — San Jose St. 35 (Whitehead 10), Boise St. 43 (Coleman 9). Assists — San Jose St. 8 (Potter 6), Boise St. 20 (Christopher 12). Total fouls — San Jose St. 16, Boise St. 16. Technical fouls — None. A — 1,120.
This story was originally published February 20, 2020 at 1:35 AM.
