Boise State Claims Season Opener Against Eastern Oregon, 59-51

BOISE, Idaho — The Boise State women’s basketball team started its season with a hard-fought win against NAIA Eastern Oregon on Monday, securing a 59-51 victory at ExtraMile Arena. The Mountaineers led for significant portions of the game, including late in the third quarter, but the Broncos rallied to finish strong.

“It’s good to get out there, get the first game done and get the win,” said sophomore Libby Hutton, who recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds in her first career start. “Now we can just start going up.”

Boise State (1-0) faced a challenging matchup, falling behind early and trailing by five points with less than five minutes left in the third quarter. The Broncos mounted a 26-13 run to clinch the victory and avoid a disappointing loss.

Coach Gordy Presnell noted areas for improvement following the game. “(Eastern Oregon) got paint touches and paint points. We have to be able to correct those errors, we have to minimize those errors,” he said.

The Broncos struggled with ball control and accuracy, allowing Eastern Oregon to take a 26-23 lead into halftime. Boise State turned the ball over 11 times and made only 9 of 36 field goal attempts in the first half, including a dismal 1 for 9 from beyond the arc.

Presnell acknowledged the offensive struggles were partly due to a conservative strategy to keep some plays off film before facing San Francisco, their first NCAA Division I opponent of the season. “We went very, very vanilla when we ran our offense,” he admitted.

As the third quarter progressed, the Broncos picked up their pace. A key moment came when Madeline Cooke scored, igniting a 10-0 run that shifted the momentum in Boise State’s favor. Mya Hansen’s jumper gave the Broncos their first lead, 39-38, late in the quarter.

“We just had to take it upon ourselves to do better on defense and try to swing the ball and take better shots,” said Tatum Thompson, who finished the game with 13 points and nine rebounds.

Hutton’s free throws extended the lead to 43-38 at the end of the third. Boise State opened the fourth quarter with a 9-2 run and maintained a comfortable lead for the remainder of the game.

<p“The vision this year is we are a physically and mentally tough team,” Hutton added. “It’s nice to see we have so much fight in us.” Dani Bayes contributed with 10 points for the Broncos, while Hansen added four assists.