Boise, Idaho—The Boise State women’s basketball team sent a resounding message to the Mountain West on Saturday, February 7, 2026, with a dominant 63-35 victory over New Mexico, extending their remarkable conference win streak to nine games. The Broncos, now 19-5 overall and 10-3 in Mountain West play, showcased a defensive masterclass that left the Lobos searching for answers and snapped New Mexico’s own four-game winning run.
“As a team, we’ve really come together and continued to improve every day in practice,” said Boise State forward Libby Hutton, who contributed 11 points in the win. “I think the games recently have been great opportunities for us to showcase what we’ve been working on. It’s really been special being able to understand my role with this team and helping the team wherever I can. I think everyone has really bought into the mission and the value that we have as a team, which is really great.”
From the opening tip, both teams traded baskets, but it didn’t take long for Boise State’s defense to clamp down. The Lobos briefly led 8-6 on a Nayli Padilla three-pointer late in the first quarter, but the Broncos closed the period with two quick three-pointers, taking a 12-8 lead. That momentum would only build as the game progressed.
New Mexico managed to keep it close early in the second quarter, with Destinee Hooks’ and-one play trimming the deficit to 14-13. However, Hooks was whistled for her third foul on the next possession—a moment that proved pivotal. “That was absolutely the turning point,” Lobos coach Mike Bradbury admitted. “But it wasn’t just that Destinee was out. (Joana Magalhaes and Alyssa Hargrove) both picked up two fouls and we went without them for an extended stretch. It shouldn’t have changed things as much as it did, but that’s where the trouble started.”
With their leading scorer on the bench, the Lobos’ offense sputtered. Boise State capitalized, embarking on a 14-4 run to finish the half and heading to the locker room up 28-17. The Broncos’ suffocating defense forced New Mexico into a nearly 15-minute stretch between the second and third quarters where the Lobos hit just one field goal—a putback by Emma Najjuma with under a minute to go in the half. “We scouted them pretty well and they didn’t have a very good shooting night,” said Boise State coach Gordy Presnell. “But we played really good team defense, we really communicated with each other, and we secured the ball. They’re a great rebounding team, but we beat them by (10) on the boards. We really secured the ball and gave them one shot. The rim shrank on them a little bit, but we gave them one shot.”
The third quarter was a nightmare for New Mexico. The Lobos went 2-for-20 from the field, scoring only four points. Boise State, meanwhile, turned defense into offense, going on a 14-0 run that ballooned the lead to 42-17. Dani Bayes, who had been limited by foul trouble in the first half, hit a three-pointer to cap the run, and the rout was on. “Total credit to (assistant coach) Mike Petrino, he’s our defensive coach and he’s really been helping us continue to improve on our defense,” Hutton said. “He’s really making sure we understand what the other team wants to do and we’re able to dictate with our defense and make sure they’re not hitting the shots they want to take.”
Offensively, Boise State was led by Natalie Pasco’s 16 points, while Bayes and Tatum Thompson each chipped in eight. Mya Hansen’s five points were enough to push her over the 1,000 career points milestone, making her the fourth Bronco on the current roster to reach that mark. For New Mexico, Destinee Hooks was the top scorer with eight points, but she struggled from the field (2-for-13) and was hampered by foul trouble throughout. Jessie Joaquim pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds, and Cacia Antonio contributed six points and six steals—a testament to the Lobos’ defensive effort, even as the offense faltered.
“At some point you’ve got to make a shot,” Bradbury said. “For the majority of the game we played good defense and played hard. We got the shots we wanted most of the game, too. We just couldn’t make anything. It was kind of unbelievable.” The Lobos’ 25% shooting from the field and failure to put a player in double figures reflected just how tough Boise State made life for them. The 35 points allowed by the Broncos marked their stingiest defensive performance against an NCAA Division I opponent since 2006-07, and the third-lowest total they’ve ever surrendered to a D-I foe.
The loss dropped New Mexico to 16-8 overall and 8-5 in conference play, two games behind Boise State in the Mountain West standings. The Lobos’ offense, which came in averaging 69 points per game, simply couldn’t solve the Broncos’ defense. The defeat also marked the first time since 2015 that New Mexico was held under 40 points, and they narrowly avoided setting a new program low for points in a conference game—a record that stands at 33, set in 1975.
Despite the lopsided score, New Mexico’s defense was active, racking up 13 steals and holding Boise State nine points below their season average. But every Lobo struggled to find the bottom of the net, with Magalhaes adding seven points and Antonio’s six coming mostly in the second half. The Broncos’ depth allowed them to substitute liberally in the fourth quarter, with the outcome never in doubt.
Boise State’s win not only extended their conference streak to nine—their longest since joining the Mountain West—but also put them in firm control of third place, with a two-game cushion over the Lobos and a tiebreaker over Colorado State. “We’re in a great position, but we’re still going to keep building off these wins,” Pasco said. “There’s still little things we need to focus in on and fix up, so we’re going to continue to do that and hopefully continue to get those wins.”
The Broncos now look ahead to four games against teams with losing records in Mountain West play, though three of those will be on the road. Hutton expressed confidence in the team’s ability to maintain focus: “We’ve been quite good on away trips recently. We just have to keep that going, keep our routine and make sure we’re doing all the right things with eating, sleeping and all that extra stuff, just making sure we’re in the right mindset to tackle those away games.”
For New Mexico, the challenge is to regroup quickly, with upcoming home games against San José State on February 11 and Colorado State on February 14. Coach Bradbury and his players will be eager to put this cold-shooting afternoon behind them and get back to their winning ways in front of their home fans.
Saturday’s contest was a showcase of Boise State’s defensive discipline and team unity—a performance that has the Broncos dreaming big as they continue their climb up the Mountain West standings.