Men’s basketball falls shorts against No. 22 St. Bonaventure in 2021 Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic (Nov. 18)
By Desmond Ordonez
Boise State lost a close game to No. 22 St. Bonaventure 67-61 in the first round of the 2021 Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic on Thursday, Nov. 18.
St. Bonaventure came out hot and jumped out to an 18-6 lead while holding Boise State to one field goal in the first nine minutes. After senior guard Devonaire Doutrive’s own 7-0 run, the Broncos began to make it a game.
For the remainder of the first half, the Broncos kept it close and were fueled by redshirt senior guard Emmanuel Akot’s 13 points, which included two back-to-back three-pointers just minutes before halftime.
Akot finished the night as the Broncos’ leading scorer with 24 points while shooting 8-for-16 from the floor and 6-for-9 from beyond the arc. Akot has now scored in double figures in each game thus far.
Redshirt senior guard Marcus Shaver Jr. and redshirt senior forward Mladen Armus also had a big impact on this game. Shaver Jr. had 10 points and Armus tallied 10 total rebounds along with three blocked shots.
The Bonnies leaned on a balanced offensive effort with four of their players finishing in double figures.
Late in the second half, the Broncos clawed their way to stay in the game but couldn’t jump ahead in the final minutes.
The Bonnies maintained a slim lead throughout and beat the Broncos in round one of the classic.
Women’s volleyball conquers Wyoming to clinch a spot in the Mountain West tournament (Nov. 18)
By Matthew Valento
Boise State women’s volleyball earned its 11th sweep of the year as the Broncos defeated Wyoming 3-0 Thursday night (Nov. 18) in Bronco Gym. The Mountain West (MW) Conference victory over the Cowgirls also clinched the Broncos a spot as one of the six teams to advance in next week’s championship tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Boise State outhit Wyoming .265 percent to .112 percent and recorded 15 blocks on its way to a convincing win in the second to last match of the regular season. The Broncos are now 21-9 overall and 10-7 in conference play. Wyoming fell to 16-13 overall and 8-9 in conference play.
Freshman middle blocker Paige Bartsch chipped in 13.5 points on 10 kills and a career-high of seven block assists. She hit at .333 percent and was the only Bronco to reach double-digit kills.
Outside hitter Lauren Ohlinger led with a team-high of 14 points on nine kills, one service ace, two block solos and two block assists. She also had nine digs.
Redshirt junior middle blocker Alyssa Wissinger hit at .429 percent and recorded 10 points on seven kills and six blocks. Freshman outside hitter Jordan Miller followed suit with Wissinger’s kill total and added a block assist. Graduate student middle blocker Alli O’Hara hit a team-high of .455 percent for five kills and tied Bartsch with seven blocks.
Senior setter Danielle Boss was the only Bronco to record a double-double finishing with 32 assists and 13 digs, both team highs.
Boise State will finish its 2021 regular season this Saturday, Nov. 20 when Colorado State comes to Boise for the Broncos’ Senior Day with the game tipping off at 12 p.m.
Men’s basketball cruises past Temple University (Nov. 19)
By Desmond Ordonez
In round two of the Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic, Boise State cruised to an 82-62 victory over Temple University on Friday, Nov. 19.
This win was propelled by a season-high of 25 assists on 32 field goals by the Broncos in which six players scored at least eight points.
A win in this fashion was needed after losing a nail-biter against St. Bonaventure on Thursday, Nov. 18.
Boise State got off to a fast start, scoring 15 points in the first five minutes, and was able to maintain a good lead for the remainder of the half. The Broncos went to the locker room up 43-28 after a buzzer-beater three-pointer from senior forward Naje Smith.
In the second half, Boise State had more of the same success, especially from beyond the arc. As a team, the Broncos went 12-for-23 from the three-point range. Of the team’s 82 points, 36 came from three-pointers.
Fifth-year forward Abu Kigab and senior guard Devonaire Doutrive connected on back-to-back three-pointers to push the lead to 21 points three minutes into the half.
Senior guard Emmanuel Akot scored a team-high of 16 points and six assists. Akot was effective from the arc going 4-for-6 from three-point range. Akot has shot 66% from beyond the arc in the last two games.
Kigab set his own career-high and matched Akot for the team lead of six assists. He also collected 13 points, five rebounds and three steals.
The Broncos’ bench contributed heavily in this game, putting up 26 points, 17 coming from Smith with nine and sophomore guard Pavle Kuzmanovic with eight.
Friday was the very first meeting between Boise State and Temple. The Broncos will now play for fifth place on Sunday against Ole Miss.
Women’s volleyball comes up short against Colorado State on Senior Day (Nov. 20)
By Lexi Almeido
Boise State women’s volleyball came up short in their final match of the season against Colorado State on Saturday, Nov. 20. This game was also Senior Day for the four Broncos who led the team against the Rams.
Senior middle blocker Jessica Donahue, senior setter Danielle Boss, senior outside hitter Shae Duffy and graduate student middle blocker Alli O’Hara combined for 22 kills, 35 assists, seven service aces and 22 blocks (11 team blocks). However, it was not enough to beat Colorado State in four sets.
The Broncos now stand 21-10 overall and 10-8 in Mountain West Conference play.
Donahue scored a team-high of 13 points on nine kills and eight block assists. She also hit at a team-best of .500 percent.
Junior outside hitter Lauren Ohlinger and O’Harra were next with 12.5 points each. Ohlinger was the only Bronco in double-digit kills (12) to go with six digs and one block assist. O’Harra hit .444 percent for nine kills with one service ace and five block assists.
Boss finished with 34 assists from the setter position pushing her past the 1,000 assists mark for the second season in her career with 1,030. The senior also had two kills, two service aces, seven digs and six blocks.
The final senior, Shae Duffy had two kills, four service aces and one block assist.
“I’m really proud of the way our seniors fought today in their final home match,” said head coach Shawn Garus. “I thought they played with a lot of energy and emotion even when things were not going our way. Jessica [Donahue] and Alli [O’Harra] were great at middle blocker and did a good job leading us at the net. Now we need to move on and turn our focus to next week and the conference tournament.”
The Broncos will now head to Las Vegas, Nevada to compete in the Mountain West Conference Championship on Nov. 24-16.
Women’s basketball loses first road game of the season to BYU 84-40 (Nov. 20)
By Adam Bridges
Boise State women’s basketball lost their first road game this season against Brigham Young University (BYU) 84-40 at the Marriott Center on Saturday, Nov. 20.
This loss makes Boise State’s record 1-2 on the year and improves BYU’s record to 4-0.
“We competed in the first half and had our chances,” said head coach Gordy Presnell. “We executed our stuff and got to the line. We just didn’t make free throws. In the second half, it just got away from us.”
The Broncos managed to take an early 6-5 lead in the game, but it was short-lived. Soon after, the Cougars went on a 17-3 run.
The first period ended with a pair of free throws from freshman guard Jayda Clark and a steal topped off with a buzzer-beater by sophomore guard Mary Kay Naro to make the score 22-13 in favor of the Cougars.
The second period consisted of a 7-0 run by BYU to extend their lead. Boise State ended up outscoring BYU for the rest of the period but trailed 33-23 at halftime.
The second half was all BYU as they managed to go on a 15-1 run in the third quarter and outscored Boise State 51-17 throughout the second half to come away with an 84-40 victory.
Sophomore forward Elodie Lalotte led the Broncos with nine points and Naro had a career-high eight rebounds.
The Broncos will now participate in the Rock Mountain Hoops Classic in Boulder, Colorado, on Nov. 26-27. They will start off the tournament against Louisiana Tech.
Men’s basketball defeats Ole Miss 60-50 in the Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic (Nov. 21)
By Adam Bridges
Boise State defeated Ole Miss in a close match 60-50 to secure fifth place at the Shriners Children’s Charleston Classic on Sunday, Nov. 21.
The game was very close at the end of the first half with Ole Miss leading Boise State by six points with a score of 27-21.
With the game being tied at 48 in the middle of the second half, redshirt senior guard Marcus Shaver, Jr. drained a three-pointer giving his team the tiebreaker. Shaver, Jr. finished off the game with a team-high 13 points.
After being down by nine points, freshman forward Tyson Degenhart scored seven consecutive points to spark a 21-4 run for the Broncos in the final half. This run secured the comeback victory for Boise State 60-50.
“I think the players along with the staff have a lot of belief in [Degenhart],” head coach Leon Rice said. “He puts in a lot of time shooting the ball. He makes winning plays, and not just making buckets, but he’s taken some big charges for us. He’s coming along.”
Boise State’s next game is against California State University, Bakersfield (CSU) in the ExtraMile Arena on Nov. 26.
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Good job.