Boise State Women Play New Mexico in Mountain West Semifinal

By virtue of their 68-63 win over Colorado State Wednesday, the Boise State women's basketball team takes on New Mexico in the semifinals of the 2012 Mountain West Basketball Championships Friday in Las Vegas, Nevada.  New Mexico knocked off #2 seed UNLV 61-58.


Boise State swept the season series with New Mexico, downing the Lobo women 65-48 in Boise and then holding off a late rally to win 68-64 in New Mexico.  In the first game, Lauren Lenhardt led the Lady Broncos with 23 points and six rebounds while Kati Isham had 12 points.  Porche Torrance had 17 points and 12 rebounds for New Mexico.  In the second game between these two, it was a decidedly different game, when Boise State pulled out to a 63-48 lead with 4:17 left.  But the home team came storming back to make it interesting down the stretch.  Nicole Brady earned high-point honors for Boise State with a season-high 19 points and eight rebounds.  Lenhardt had 16 and Isham 13.  Caroline Durbin poured in 27 points for New Mexico  while Torrance contributed 17 points and 15 boards.


Boise State is an even .500 on the season at 15-15 while New Mexico enters the semifinals with a 10-19 record.  The Broncos lead the Mountain West with 68.2 points a game while the Lobos are averaging 54.8.  Defense is where New Mexico has the upper hand, allowing just 56.8 points while Boise State allows 67 a game.


Tipoff is set for 3:30 Friday afternoon Mountain Time.

Jamaal Franklin's Three-Pointer Sinks Broncos

Jamaal Franklin hit an off-balance three-point shot with one second left as San Diego State beat the Broncos 65-62.  In our article, we said that Boise State had to stop Franklin & Tapley to win.  Well, Tapley had 20 points and Franklin 19.


Anthony Drmic had a strong second half to lead Boise State with 19.

San Diego State Taking Command

Aztecs lead 57-47 with 5 minutes left.

Boise State Continuing to Shoot Threes

Only now, they aren't falling.  Time to buckle down and play basketball--work the ball inside for good shots.

Boise State with 22 Rebounds to 13 for San Diego State and Still Hasn't Shot a Free Throw

Broncos slaughtering San Diego State from the field but SD State is 9-11 from the free-throw line while Boise State is 0-0.


Even with that, it's Boise State 41, San Diego State 39.

Drmic Ties Game at 38

Anthony Drmic's three-pointer tied the game at 38.  Boise State has still not shot a free throw.

21 Minutes into the game, Boise State has not shot a free throw

SD State is 7 of 9 so far.

Boise State Leads SD State 32-30 at the half

Essentially three Broncos have taken the team on their backs and led Boise State through the first half.  Kenny Buckner and Drew Wiley have eight points each and Derrick Marks has seven.  Amazingly, Boise State has a 17-10 rebounding advantage and to this point have not allowed an offensive rebound by San Diego State.

Franklin Leads San Diego State Comeback

Jamaal Franklin has gotten going, something Boise State wanted to prevent.  His dunk on a fast break has brought the Aztecs to within one at 28-27 with 1:45 left in the half.

San Diego State Catches Fire

The Aztecs have awakened.  San Diego State is up to 46.7% from the field and three-point shooting (4-6) and a rebounding advantage of 12 to 6 are keeping Boise State in the lead.  Broncos 26, Aztecs 22 with just over five minutes left.

Broncos Have 24-17 Lead

Boise State is keeping SD State from getting easy buckets so far and, until they fouled Jamaal Franklin on a three-point attempt, have done a fairly good job of keeping the big two from hurting them.  6:26 left.

Defense Keying Boise State Rally

Remember in the article on Blue Through and Through, we said that defense for Boise State would be the key to having a chance to beat San Diego State.  With eight minutes gone in the first half, San Diego State to this point is shooting 43%.  Boise State leads 12-8, and they want to keep the Aztecs right about at that level.

Boise State Shooting Down to 40%

Just four minutes gone and already Boise State shooting is down to 2-5.  Broncos trail the nation's #21 team 6-5.

Boise State Men About to Take the Court

Broncos play San Diego State in the opening game of the Mountain West Conference Basketball Tournament.

Burnett & Courtney Compete at NCAA Zone E Diving Championships Thursday

Amanda Burnett and Ciera Courtney will represent Boise State at the NCAA Zone E Diving Championships this Thursday through Saturday in Colorado Springs, Colorado.


Burnett and Courtney will compete on the 1-meter, 3-meter and platform events.  Seven divers will advance out of Colorado Springs to the NCAA Championships, where four Broncos (Stephanie North, Amber Boucher, Sydney Johansen and Stevie Hugher) have already qualifed.