By Ruben Ibarra
With Lauren Lendhart getting recognized before the game as the Broncos’ lone senior player, emotions ran high and it showed in the play of both teams with the Broncos falling to their conference rivals UNLV 70-60 Wednesday night at Taco Bell Arena.
This would be Lenhardt’s last time suiting up in a Bronco’s uniform in front of the home crowd.
Both squads committed countless turnovers in the first half resulting in a low scoring affair with the first half ending 26-21 in favor of the Rebels. Brandi Henton, the Bronco’s redshirt sophomore guard, attributed to the first half struggles as just a matter of knocking down shots and staying aggressive. The Broncos only shot 25 percent from the field in the first half, with the Rebel’s only shooting a meager 31 percent from the field. The Broncos got a great effort from Lexi Der whose high energy helped keep the game tight through out most of the game.
The Broncos cleaned up their play in the second half. After failing to find Lendhart in the low post early on, from the start of the second half they made a more concerted effort to find her on the low block.
After Rosalie Cutri and Brandi Henton started off the second half with lay-ups, it was Lendhart’s turn to get in on the action getting, four consecutive buckets in the paint including two and-ones and converting on both
opportunities.
Boise State led 38-32 with 14:56 left in the second half after a Henton 3-point field-goal. Lendhart showed off her range hitting a 3-pointer showing us all why she has been voted the Mountain West’s Conference player of the week six times. Lauren’s final game at home ended with 18 points on 7-16 shooting and five rebounds.
Cutri nearly had a double-double on her way to penetrating the Rebels’ defense much of the second half.
“Defenders were in my face, and if you stay in my face I’m going to blow by you,”
Cutri said.
The Broncos gave a valiant effort until UNLV’s senior guard, and the MWC leading scoring, Kelli Thompson was just too much to handle and finished the night with 27 points on 6-15 from the field and 12-13 from the
charity stripe.
Fouls were not helping out the Broncos cause and it seemed to be the Achilles’ Heal all night. The Rebels hit 25-32 free throw attempts and outrebounded the
Broncos 50-44.
For the Eagle native, Lenhardt wants her Bronco legacy to be remembered as “a good team player, represented the school well, and was a good role model not just a basketball player.” Teammate Brandi Henton described Lauren as “irreplaceable” and hopes the “posts players work hard in
the offseason.”
The women took another loss to end the regular season, falling to San Diego State 86-45 in San Diego.
Boise State, as the No. 7 seed in the MW tournament, will face No. 2 Fresno State Thursday at 7 p.m. MT.
