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Kepilino, Thompson lead Broncos to win
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There have been two home games and two wins in the past week for the Boise State women’s basketball team. The most recent win came against Denver University on Tuesday night.
Solid performances across the board helped BSU to a 70-65 victory, improving the women’s record to 5-3 on the season.
Senior post Michelle Hessing got a lot of looks early in the first half and scored seven of the Broncos first ten points.
“They were more athletic than us, but this was actually the first team we played that we were actually a little bigger,” Bronco Head Coach Gordy Presnell said. “So we tried to get Michelle the ball, to get her established and get her going. She did a nice job for us. She had 15 [points] and she’s got the handle down on the post.”
Nine of Hessing’s 15 points came in the first half on 4-of-7 shooting from the floor and 1-of-2 from the free-throw line.
But it was her effort from the free-throw line that really helped BSU preserve the win late in the second half. Hessing went 5-of-6 from the charity stripe for the whole game, but hit 4-of-4 down the stretch to help put the game out of reach. She also had seven rebounds on the night.
The night really belonged to a couple young BSU players. Sophomores Jessica Thompson and Rebecca Kepilino both had solid games for BSU. Kepilino came in off the bench and sparked the Broncos late in the first half.
“Yeah, she did a nice job for us,” Presnell said. “We’re a little thin in the post area with some injuries so she has to play some post for us. She gets to handle a lot of balls, she understands the game and we’re fortunate to have her here.”
With less than three minutes to go in the first half, Kepilino rattled off eight straight Bronco points to cut the Denver lead down to four points before the half.
She ended the night with 14 total points and had five rebounds to go along with it.
“She does such a good job rebounding and she’s really offensive oriented,” Presnell said. “She even played a little point guard for us last year. She can do some things with the ball and we run a lot of pick-and-rolls for her.”
Fellow sophomore Jessica Thompson also chipped in with a nice performance. Thompson, along with Hessing, had a team-high 15 points on the night. However, it was the timeliness of those 15 points that came in handy. Nine of her points came in the second half and six in the last ten minutes of the game. She also had a team-high five steals, three of which came down the stretch in the crucial moments of the game.
But even after Thompson turned in a solid performance, the confident sophomore remained humble.
“I didn’t feel like I did anything special tonight,” Thompson said.
“It was really all about my teammates. It was a group effort.”
Thompson also had the duty of guarding Denver star guard Tyesha Lowery for a portion of the game. Lowery, who is averaging over 13 points per game this season for the Pioneers, was held to only six points on three shots in the first half.
“Jess has the ability to rise to the occasion,” Presnell said about Thompson. “She has the ability to hit the dagger shot.
You know, when it’s all close to kind of put the dagger in people. She has that ability, she’s a very good player and we’re fortunate to have her.”
Thompson’s 15 points upped her average to a team-high 12.6 points per game for the season. Her five steals also extended her total to 19 on the season, which is also a team high.
Boise State will face UC Davis for the second time this season on Friday, this time in Davis, Calif.
The Broncos defeated UC Davis earlier this season at home with a score of 73-56.
KYE JOHNSON
Assistant Sports Editor
