BOISE, Idaho — THIS DAY IN SPORTS…March 9, 2018, five years ago today:
The Boise State women’s hoops team wins its third Mountain West championship in four years, beating Nevada 62-60 on a buzzer-beating putback by A’Shanti Coleman in the conference tournament title game in Las Vegas. The Broncos would nevertheless be saddled with a No. 16 seed in the NCAA Tournament a week later and had to face Louisville on its home floor. Boise State hung with the Cardinals early before falling 74-42.
The Broncos’ leading scorer in the title tilt was sophomore Riley Lupfer with 19 points, including five three-pointers. Lupfer was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after scoring 50 points over three games. She was also Boise State’s season leader with 16.2 points per game, earning the first of three consecutive first-team All-Mountain West honors. Lupfer would spur the Broncos to two more Mountain West championships in 2019 and 2020.
The 2018 title game victory was the Broncos’ 10th in a row, and they were motivated in nthe final versus Nevada. They were still smarting from their 72-68 loss to the Wolf Pack that January, their last home defeat of the season. It was the second straight year Boise State had faced a No. 7 seed in the Mountain West final—the previous March it was Fresno State falling to the Broncos 66-53. No team seeded below No. 5 has ever won the MW women’s tournament.
Coach Gordy Presnell just capped his 36th season as a head coach—and 18th at Boise State—with a loss to Colorado State in the Mountain West tournament on Monday. Presnell won 395 games in 18 seasons at Seattle Pacific before taking the reins of the Broncos’ program in 2005, and he’s won another 334 since. His overall record is 729-356. Boise State has been rebuilding since its last championship in 2020. The Broncos went 17-16 this season after a strong finish. Every player on the roster is eligible to return next season. The future is bright.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
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