BOISE, Idaho – In game one of a two-game series against the defending Mountain West champions, Boise State, the Nevada women's basketball team dropped a 73-63 contest to the Broncos Friday afternoon.
The Broncos (9-5, 6-5 MW) held the edge in all four quarters, but by no more than three points in any given period. The Wolf Pack (8-8, 4-7 MW) hung right with the defending conference tournament champs the entire game, and held a big advantage on the glass, outrebounding Boise State by a 44-32 margin. The Broncos though forced Nevada into 15 turnovers and registered seven blocked shots in the game, while holding the Pack to 36.2 percent on offense to maintain its lead throughout the game.
Boise State's Jade Loville knocked down a jump shot with 1:34 left in the opening quarter that grabbed the lead back for the Broncos, and they led the rest of the way. The Wolf Pack showed resiliency though as the team bounced back from multiple double-digit deficits, including just before halftime when the Pack took an 11-point deficit with 3:04 to play until the break and knocked that down to a five-point Bronco lead.
It wasn't until the midway point of the fourth quarter when Boise State began to pull away from Nevada, gaining its largest lead of the game (16 points) on another jumper from Loville, who led all scorers with 20 points. The Wolf Pack finished the last few minutes of the game on a 9-3 run, but the Broncos locked in when they needed to in order to preserve their lead and the victory.
Junior
Da'Ja Hamilton led the Pack in scoring with 19 points and added six rebounds and two assists to her afternoon.
Amaya West (11) and
Nia Alexander (10) also scored in double figures, and Alexander led the team in rebounding with seven. Sophomore
Dom Phillips, who was named to the MW All-Freshman team last season despite missing the final 13 games due to a knee injury, returned to the lineup for Nevada for the first time since Jan. 25, 2020 and played just over nine minutes.
Nevada and Boise State will conclude their two-game series this Sunday with an 11 a.m. PT matchup from ExtraMile Arena in Boise.
