LAS VEGAS, Nevada — Boise State advanced to its fourth-straight Mountain West Championship Game Tuesday night, defeating Wyoming, 79-71, in the late semifinal. They'll now face Fresno State for the title Wednesday night.
The Broncos (23-9) used a 29-17 second quarter to take control of the contest, and gamely fought off multiple Cowgirl comeback attempts in the second half.
Five Broncos scored in double figures for the fourth time in the past five games, led by A'Shanti Coleman's 20 points. For Coleman, it was another banner night as she posted her fifth-straight 20-point performance, and hit the 1,000-point mark for her career (Arizona, 2015-16; Boise State, 2017-present).
Coleman also posted her fourth double-double of the season, grabbing a career high-matching 12 rebounds. She hit the 1,000-point mark for her career, combining 938 career points at Boise State (2017-present) with 70 points from her freshman season at Arizona in 2015-16 as well.
Point guard Jayde Christopher posted the rare rebounds-assists double-double, grabbing 10 boards and passing out 10 helpers. Christopher and Coleman combined for the game-changing sequence Tuesday.
With the Bronco lead down to five at 68-63 with just over four minutes to play, Wyoming's Alba Sanchez Ramos stole a Bronco inbounds pass and streaked downcourt for what appeared to be an uncontested layup, but Christopher, in a full sprint, caught up and swiped the ball, and Wyoming's hopes, away. Seconds later, Christopher would feed Coleman for a bucket that put the Broncos up seven with under four minutes to go, and the lead would never be less than seven the rest of the way.
Coleman scored again with 2:40 to play to get the Broncos up 72-63, and over the final minute, Braydey Hodgins, who finished the night with 10 points, went 4-for-4 from the line to ice the win. Riley Lupfer scored 13 points and hit a pair of 3-pointers, and Jade Loville added 10 points to round out the Bronco quintet in double figures. Tereza Vitulova led Wyoming with 16 points while Taylor Rusk had 14 and Quinn Weidemann added 13.
Boise State and Fresno State will tip-off at 9 p.m. MT. The game will be broadcast on the Mountain West Digital Network or you can use TuneIn for the radio stream. You can also catch it on the CBS Sports Network.
