Sports

Boise State prevails over Yale in overtime

Deanna Weaver scored six of her game-high 21 points in overtime as Boise State gutted out a back-and-forth 59-53 win over Yale in the third place game of the women's Great Alaska Shootout on Wednesday at the Alaska Airlines Center.

Weaver made a trio of clean jump shots in the overtime, and Yaiza Rodriguez's trey with 20 seconds to play helped Boise State (3-2) finish off the Bulldogs (1-3).

"Deanna made huge shots for us," said Boise State coach Gordy Presnell.

Weaver said she had lots of confidence in her signature move, a step-back jumper that Yale had no chance of challenging.

"I thought they were going in as soon as they left my hand," Weaver said.

Camille Redmon added 10 points for Boise State, which also got six points and six rebounds from Keiahnna Engel.

Yale coach Chris Gobrecht said Weaver's athleticism down the stretch was the difference.

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"We've got a lot of smart kids, but we don't have anybody who can do that," she said.

Sarah Halejian scored 17 points for Yale, which got 13 from Tamara Simpson.

The game opened slow, with neither team finding the basket until Boise State's Tonishia Childress stole the ball and scored on a breakaway two minutes into the contest.

Boise State was the more aggressive team early, forcing Gobrecht to call timeout at the 16 minute mark with her team trailing 6-2 and in danger of digging an early hole for the second night in a row. Yale also started slow in its opening round loss, dropping behind UAA 11-0 to start the game.

Gobrecht's early pep talk did little to stem the Broncos' momentum, as Boise State made four of its first five shots to take a 11-3 lead out of the gate.

Yale was forced to play the role of villain for the second straight game. In their opening game, the Bulldogs had to face host UAA, which downed the Ivy Leaguers 72-63 on Tuesday. Against Boise State, the Bulldogs again battled a partisan crowd that showed up hoping to cheer on Engle, a Boise State junior who was a two-time Alaska Class 4A player of the year at Dimond.

The Broncos meanwhile were trying to recover from a sloppy 68-50 loss in the first round to Long Beach State, which forced 24 Boise State turnovers while advancing to the tournament final.

Yale picked up its defensive intensity after the early Boise State onslaught, using Boise State turnovers to go on a 9-0 run, grabbing a 12-11 lead on a Lena Munzer 3-pointer midway through the half.

The teams punched and counterpunched for the rest of a tightly contested first half, with the Bulldogs taking a 27-24 lead into halftime behind 11 points from Halejian.

Halejian and Weaver were named to the all-tournament team following the conclusion of Long Beach State's 69-60 win over UAA in Wednesday's championship game.

Yale feasted on free throws in the first 20 minutes, going 10-for-16 from the charity stripe compared to 4-for-6 for the Broncos.

Boise State took control in the second half by clamping down on defense. The Broncos opened the half on a 10-4 run while forcing the Bulldogs to miss nine of their first 10 shot attempts.

"We just shot the ball so poorly," Gobrecht said.

As has been its habit in the tournament, Yale showed dogged determination after giving up a run, rallying to take a 35-34 lead with 11 minutes to play on back-to-back buckets inside by Meredith Boardman and Whitney Wyckoff.

Neither team led by more than four points during a ponderous second half during which fans often had to wait one or two minutes between baskets.

Weaver's 3-pointer with 2:40 to go tied the game at 44-44, and that's how it stayed until Engle was fouled on a put-back attempt. She calmly sank a pair of free throws to give the Broncos a 46-44 lead with just 16.8 seconds to play.

"I felt confident going to the line," Engel said.

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But Yale had one more trick up its sleeve, perfectly executing a set play to Tamara Simpson, whose turnaround shot inside sent the game to overtime at 46-46.

Boise committed turnovers on three of its first four possessions of the second half as the Bulldogs built a 50-46 lead midway through the extra period.

Weaver hit back-to-back jumpers for Boise State to tie things at 50-50, and Redmon's breakout lay-up with 1:19 left to play put the Broncos up two. Weaver nailed her third jumper of the overtime period to put Boise State up 54-51, and Rodriguez's 3-pointer with 20 seconds left iced the game. Engle hit a pair of free throws in the final seconds to provide the final margin of victory.

Gobrecht said she was pleased with her team's effort.

"I thought it was a great game," she said.

Boise State returns to action Sunday at home against Carroll (Montana). The Bulldogs host Monmouth on Tuesday, Dec. 2.

ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM

Deanna Weaver, Boise State; Anna Kim, Long Beach State; Sarah Halejian, Yale; Kiki Robertson, UAA; Devin Hudson, Long Beach State

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Most Outstanding Player: Megan Mullings, UAA

Reach reporter Matt Tunseth at mtunseth@alaskadispatch.com or 257-4335.

BOISE STATE 59, YALE 53

BOISE STATE (59) -- Weaver 9-15 0-0 21, Redmon 5-10 0-0 10, Childress 1-3 1-2 3, Engel 1-7 4-4 6, Pahukoa 1-5 2-2 4, Shaw 0-0 0-0 0, Rodriguez 2-3 2-2 7, Laird 0-0 0-0 0, McDavis 1-4 0-0 2, Askew 2-5 1-1 5, Poteet 0-4 1-2 1, Reinhart 0-4 0-1 0. Totals 22-60 11-14 59.

YALE (53) -- Werner 2-5 2-4 6, Boardman 1-4 1-2 3, Halejian 5-17 7-10 17, Simpson 5-10 3-4 13, Santucci 2-7 0-0 4, Allen 0-0 0-0 0, Sarju 0-1 0-0 0, Berkowitz 1-4 1-3 3, Wyckoff 2-5 0-0 4, Munzer 1-3 0-0 3. Totals 19-56 14-23 53.

Boise State 24 22 13 -- 59

Yale 27 19 7 -- 53

3-point goals -- Boise State 4-14 (Weaver 3-6, Childress 0-1, Engel 0-1, Pahukoa 0-1, Rodriguez 1-2, Reinhart 0-3), Yale 1-10 (Boardman 0-1, Halejian 0-2, Simpson 0-2, Santucci 0-2, Berkowitz 0-1, Wyckoff 0-1, Munzer 1-1). Rebounds -- Boise State 40 (Poteet 7), Yale 40 (Berkowitz 6). Total fouls -- Boise State 22, Yale 16, Fouled out -- Redmon. Assists -- Boise State 13 (Engel 5), Yale 15 (Halejian 3, Santucci 3). Turnovers -- Boise State 17 (Rodriguez 5), Yale 16 (Werner 5. Blocks -- Boise State 4 (Redmon 3), Yale 5 (Simpson 2). Steals -- Boise State 7 (3 with 2 apiece), Yale 10 (Werner 3). Officials -- Butler, Lujan, Corson.

Matt Tunseth

Matt Tunseth is a former reporter for the Anchorage Daily News and former editor of the Alaska Star.

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