Women’s basketball loses home opener against Long Beach State 61-38

The Boise State women’s basketball team suffered a 61-38 loss in their first official game of the season against Long Beach State on Saturday, Nov. 13.

Boise State performed well in their exhibition match win over Southern Oregon, but was not able to reciprocate those results against a tough Long Beach State team.

“We played timid,” said head coach Gordy Presnell. “We have to be able to handle the pressure going forward.”

Although Long Beach State showed their offensive strength in their first game of the season, scoring 80 points in their win against Biola, their defense helped win the game.

The Long Beach State defense was able to put a ton of pressure on Boise State’s guards throughout the game. The Broncos starting guards finished off shooting 2-14 collectively from the field.

“We have to execute better,” Presnell said. “In the beginning, we were able to get the ball inside. Our guards have to become confident shooters and passers.”

Because their guards were struggling throughout the game, the team found most of its success from their starting forwards. Their starting forwards scored 21 of 38 points in the game. 

Sophomore forward Elodie Lalotte dominated the paint in the first period, going 3 of 3 and scoring six points. 

“It felt good,” Lalotte said when asked about how she felt about her first-period performance. “I wish it kept going throughout the whole game, but it felt good bringing energy to the team.”

The Broncos started to cool down in the second period. The team allowed Long Beach to go on multiple runs throughout the game, resulting in Boise State being outscored 13-7 in the second period.

Boise State later went on a 9-2 run with help from sophomore guard Mary Kay Naro later on in the third quarter, to cut the lead down to three points. Long Beach responded to this with runs of their own and finished the period off with a 14 point lead over the Broncos.

The Broncos got outscored 13-5 in the final period resulting in the final score of 61-38.

“We just have to find a way to get better and hopefully we will,” Presnell said.

Boise State will plan on bouncing back in their next game against Oregon Tech at the ExtraMile Arena on Monday, Nov. 15.