Boise State whips Fresno State to win MW women’s title

A year ago, Brooke Pahukoa sat behind the microphone after Boise State lost its first game of the Mountain West women’s basketball tournament, vowing to come back hungry with hopes the results would be different.

When she arrived in Las Vegas this week, Pahukoa sensed the Broncos wouldn’t lose.

She was right. Fourth-seeded Boise State defeated No. 7 Fresno State 66-53 Friday in the championship game at the Thomas & Mack Center to claim the conference’s automatic NCAA Tournament bid.

“I knew, gosh, the second we came here this year, we’re going to win,” the senior guard said. “The look on everyone’s faces, the attitudes we had. I said, ‘There’s no one stopping us.’ And I think it showed the way that we played.”

Pahukoa led all scorers with 17 points and was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player after leading the Broncos to their 10th straight victory.

Boise State (25-7) squeaked by No. 5 New Mexico, then ousted top-seeded Colorado State before beating Fresno State (18-15) to win its second Mountain West tournament in three years.

The Bulldogs also had an impressive run, knocking off UNR, second-seeded Wyoming and No. 3 UNLV to reach the title game. But the fatigue of playing four games in five days seemed to catch up with Fresno State, which lost in the championship game for the second consecutive year.

“Losing a championship game two times in a row is hard,” Fresno State sophomore Candice White said. “All you can do is get a positive out of this and motivate ourselves to come back next year.”

White scored 14 points and Bego Faz Davalos had 11 points and 14 rebounds.

But the Bulldogs committed 15 turnovers to Boise State’s six; the Broncos cashed in, turning those turnovers into 15 points.

“We struggled to score late,” Fresno State coach Jamie White said. “I think we ran out of gas there in the fourth quarter. Four games in five days is really tough. (We) made a run and really believed that we could win that game, and I guess as a coach, that’s all you can ask.”

The Broncos led 30-28 at halftime then pulled away behind Pahukoa, who scored 15 second-half points.

After its victory, Boise State players climbed the ladder, snipped a tiny piece of nylon from the net and held it up for an exuberant Broncos crowd.

Coach Gordy Presnell was worried about just not slicing a finger during the cutting of the nets, which once happened to a friend of his who slipped during the tradition reserved for championship teams.

“I was just thinking about I’ve got to get this up, clip it fast, get down before I fall down,” Presnell said.

Safe and sound with the nets cut down, the coach now has his next task to focus on: The NCAA Tournament. The Broncos will find out their opponent and seeding Monday.

“We do have a high RPI, but we’re going to play someone with a higher RPI, and we’re going to wear the dark jerseys,” Presnell said. “We’re going to have nothing to lose, and have fun and let it fly.”

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Contact Betsy Helfand at bhelfand@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BetsyHelfand on Twitter.