With just one game left in the season, the Boise State Women’s basketball team looks to make its final tournament stride and will look to join in the madness of march for the first time since the 2018-2019 season.
While is the case for any team the easiest way into the tournament is to win their conference tournament. However with the Broncos currently sitting in fourth with tough in conference opponents they need to prepare for if they don’t win their tournament.
Currently sitting at 19-11 and being 10-7 in conference it is time for the team to lock in to help cement a bid in case they don’t win the Mountain West.
Looking at the Broncos final games, they can split their season up into three types of games remaining: games they need to win, games they hope to win and games they should win.
With a close win over New Mexico they were able to close down the gap between them for second place in the conference. However University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is still sitting comfortably at the top after beating the Broncos 63-57 on Feb. 28.
They still have San Diego State University fighting for their standing right behind the Broncos with them having a 18-11 record while being 9-7 in conference play. However they will still have tough matchups against New Mexico and Wyoming.
After sweeping Wyoming in their conference play they were able to leapfrog them in the rankings despite sitting behind them the majority of the season. They were also able to sweep New Mexico who is now just inches ahead of them in the rankings.
After a narrow 1 point loss to Air Force in their second to last game of the season they look to this final game to end their season on
Their final and arguably most important game of the season will be against Colorado State on the road. As it sits right now the Broncos are 19-11 and 10-7 in conference while the Rams are 18-10 and 9-8 in conference.
The Broncos fell to the Rams three times last year including having their season ending game in the Mountain West tournament, but now they look for revenge.
If the Lady Broncos can manage to win the games they should win, and steal a couple wins against the top teams in the conference, this game will likely hold their tournament fate.
If they can finish off this season with these final two wins they can go into the tournament with a 20-11 record overall and 11-7 in conference.
This could be their best record since 2019-20 where they barely missed out on the big dance and would in fact be better than their 2017-18 campaign where they didn’t make the postseason.
The biggest factor in this Broncos run will be keeping their top tier defense going. Giving up only 57.4 points a game this would be their second best defensive team in the last 22 seasons. After going 8-21 just two years ago this team has been able to regain their glory behind this defensive identity they have established.
Their tournament success will also likely play a big role in a postseason appearance but for now the Broncos have big games coming up and will need to play their best ball of the season, but a tournament is in reach of this resurgent women’s team.
