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Bronco women’s hoops set for road test
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The Boise State women’s basketball team will begin a four-game road trip tonight in Wyoming. Head coach Gordy Presnell doesn’t even know how well his young team will do.
“It will be interesting how we do this weekend,” Presnell said. “Wyoming has got a really good program. They take the air out of the ball. Obviously I am trying to change the tempo here and push the ball.”
The previous three seasons, under Jen Warden, the Broncos played a half-court game. Now just six games under Presnell and his up-tempo type of basketball, the Broncos are averaging 78.5 points per game.
Six games into the season, the Broncos are utilizing all 10 players eligible to the maximum. Nine players are averaging at least 15 minutes per game. Only center/forward Amanda Stewart (6.2 minutes per game) is not. Even more impressive is the ability of the Broncos to start one true freshman, and play another two.
Jessica Thompson is leading the team in scoring with 15.8 points per game. Sunday, the Temecula, Calif. native scored 32 points in the overtime loss to Washington State at Taco Bell Arena.
But she missed key free throws late in the game as the Cougars tied the game to force overtime.
“She has all of our support and it was just one of those things that happens to anybody. There were a lot of other free throws missed in that game and she is just a freshman,” Presnell said. “Freshmen aren’t asked to win games for you in too many places.
Here with what we have left over-. maybe some of those people that left should have been the ones, but they are not. So, it’s trusted upon her. She will be fine. She’s a great kid, and has a great heart and is really competitive, and the competitive will win over and if we get into that situation again-I have no doubt she will knock them down.”
Thompson is a shooting guard by trade, but has been given the role of playing point guard because the Broncos are without a true point guard on the team. Tasha Harris is redshirting this season after having offseason surgery. She started all 29 games last season as a true freshman. Thompson is also dishing out the ball nicely for Boise State. She is third in the WAC with 3.33 assists per game, and her assist-to-turnover margin is second in the conference so far this season.
Presnell will also look for sophomore stand out Jackie Lee to bounce back from a poor shooting night against Washington State. Lee ranks in the top six in the conference in scoring (3rd, 15.0 per game), assists (3rd, 3.67), steals (5th, 2.17) and rebounds (6th, 7.5), but was just 1 of 9 from the field shooting on Sunday. Lee finished with just five points. Against the Cougars, other than Thompson (13-28), the other four starters combined for to shoot just 3 for 19 form the field.
“You are not going to win too many games when you got four starters that score three baskets,” Presnell said.
Saturday the Broncos will play in Denver, then they play in San Diego on Dec. 18 and at San Diego State on Dec. 20 before returning home to play San Francisco on Dec. 28.
The game time has changed from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. for the San Francisco game to accommodate fans coming over from the MPC Computers Bowl being played at Bronco Stadium at 2:30 p.m.
Trevor Horn
Sports Editor