Wednesday, February 6
Las Vegas, Nev.
7:00 PM MT

Boise State

64
at
57

UNLV

Braydey Hodgins
Photo by: Boise State Photo Services

Hodgins, Bowers Catch Fire In Vegas

2/6/2019 10:16:00 PM | Women's Basketball

LAS VEGAS - A total team effort on defense, and the two-woman show of Braydey Hodgins (career-high 28 points, 10-for-14 shooting) and Rachel Bowers (career-high 19 on 7-for-8 shooting) on offense put Boise State back into sole possession of first place in the Mountain West with a 64-57 victory at UNLV Wednesday.

Boise State (18-3, 9-1 MW) climbed back atop the conference table with the win combined with New Mexico's loss at San Diego State earlier in the day.

The Broncos overcame a night in which the team shot 36.7 percent from the field with the rest of the team outside of Hodgins and Bowers going just 5-for-38. UNLV, despite shooting 43.1 percent, did itself no favors with a 9-for-21 performance from the line. Jayde Christopher and Marta Hermida (four steals) harassed the Lady Rebel perimeter as UNLV managed just four 3-pointers in 15 attempts and the Broncos forced 21 turnovers.

"We showed a lot of resolve. UNLV made a lot of runs at us, and I thought we had players step up," said Boise State head coach Gordy Presnell. "Braydey was just fantastic, Rachel was terrific, and Sofía [Galerón] hits  abig three. A lot of people stepped up for us so I was proud of the resolve and their ability to keep fighting."

The Lady Rebels (7-14, 5-5 MW), however, fought back from a nine-point halftime deficit, scoring the first seven points of the fourth quarter to take a 47-46 lead on Katie Powell's 3-pointer with 7:25 to play. The Bronco deficit was short-lived, though, as Sofía Galerón responded with a triple of her own to put Boise State back in front, 49-47.
 

Galerón's 3-pointer started a short 5-0 burst from the Broncos that got the lead out to five at 52-47 with 4:55 to play, but UNLV, again refusing to go away, got back within a point at 54-53 on Alyssa Anderson's jumper with 3:40 to go. Bowers and Hodgins would team up to slam the door on the Lady Rebel hopes, however, as Bowers responded with a bucket inside, and, after nearly two minutes of scoreless play, Hodgins poked away an errant Baily Thomas pass, went the distance, and finished through Thomas' foul. She would hit the bonus, putting Boise State up six at 59-53 with 1:28 to go. Boise State would go 5-for-6 from the line over the final minute and a half, with Marta Hermida going 4-for-4, to ice the win.
 

"Rachel has great explosiveness and she just has a dynamic that we haven't had here in terms of her size and athleticism," Presnell said. "She's just scratching the surface of what she can become."

Hodgins wasted little time catching fire in the early going, hitting all seven of her first-half attempts, including four 3-pointers. Bowers, for her part, added a pair of field goals along with four free throws in as many attempts. Hodgins scored the Broncos' first 10 points, including all in a 7-0 run midway through the opening quarter which erased a 7-3 UNLV lead and gave Boise State a 10-7 lead.

"I knew Braydey was going to play well because it wasn't about staying in first for her. We've never won here at Cox in her career. She mentioned it today, so for her it wasn't about holding off, it was about beating UNLV," Presnell said.

The Pasco, Wash., native's hot shooting continued in the second quarter, as the Broncos got out to a 30-21 halftime lead.