Boise State women defeat UNR for Mountain West title

A’Shanti Coleman never panicked when she saw the basketball coming her way Friday.

She calmly grabbed the offensive rebound and put the ball off the backboard and through the hoop just before the buzzer to hand Boise State the Mountain West tournament championship, 62-60 over UNR at the Thomas & Mack Center.

“I felt like it was a normal shot for me, kind of confident, because I knew I had enough time,” Coleman said. “I didn’t want to rush the shot. I felt like when it came out of my hand it was going to go in.”

This is the third trip in four years to the NCAA Tournament for the top-seeded Broncos (23-9), who shared the regular-season Mountain West title with UNLV. Boise State’s victory over seventh-seeded UNR (17-16) at the Thomas & Mack Center means the Lady Rebels will receive an automatic bid to the Women’s National Invitation Tournament.

UNR led for more than three-fourths of the game, but Boise State never panicked and finally caught the Wolf Pack at 58-58 on Shalen Shaw’s layup with 2:32 left. The Broncos’ only second-half lead came on the final play.

“They didn’t lose their composure,” Boise State coach Gordy Presnell said of his players. “You can’t break emotionally. We were teetering there for a little bit, and then we got it back together.”

Presnell’s decision to go to a zone in the second half also played a big factor in the victory.

UNR went 6½ minutes a basket, finally scoring 27 seconds into the fourth quarter. The Wolf Pack managed to still lead, 49-43, but Boise State had kept UNR from pulling away.

“I don’t think we did a great job against their press or zone,” UNR coach Amanda Levens said. “I thought we played backwards a little bit, which is exactly what they want.”

That set up the final sequence in which UNR’s Jade Redmon missed a 17-footer with 31 seconds left, and Boise State then played for the final shot. Or, rather, shots.

Marta Hermida’s 8-footer in the closing seconds turned into the rebound that went right to Coleman, who was by herself.

“We didn’t box them out,” Levens said.

Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.