Fresno State and Nevada both earned road wins Saturday night. The Bulldogs defeated San Jose State, while Nevada stopped New Mexico State. Fresno State remains tied for first with Louisiana Tech. Nevada's fifth league win is its most since the Wolf Pack won six league games during the 2001-02 season.
Fresno State produced its best defensive performance of the year, holding San Jose State to just five second-half field goals in a convincing 63-41 victory on Saturday night at the Event Center.
Leading 30-25 at halftime, the Bulldogs outscored the Spartans 33-16 over the final 20 minutes and did not allow San Jose State to eclipse the 40-point mark until Brittany Imaku's lay-up with two seconds remaining.
With the win, Fresno State improves to 18-5 overall and remains tied for first place in the WAC at 10-1 with No. 23 Louisiana Tech. San Jose State drops to 10-11 overall and 5-5 in conference play.
The Bulldogs have won four in a row overall and stand four victories shy from matching the best single-season win total of 22. There are five regular-season games remaining before the WAC Tournament gets underway in less than a month.
Interim head coach Adrian Wiggins collected his 25th career victory in the process, improving to 25-9 since taking over the reigns of the program one year ago.
Chantella Perera was the game-high scorer with 20 points, knocking down four three-pointers while shooting 6-6 from the foul line. Tierre Wilson scored 14 points off the bench while Mirenda Swearengin chipped in with 10. Andrea Roberson pulled down a career-best 12 rebounds to lead Fresno State's commanding 39-24 attack on the glass.
Nevada used a strong first half to upend New Mexico State Saturday night, 53-46. Traci Graham led three Wolf Pack players in double-figures with 15 while Brandi Fitzgerald and Meghan McGuire each chipped in with 10.
The Pack (9-14, 5-5 WAC) jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the first five minutes and didn't allow the Aggies to score until the 13:12 mark. They would build a 15-point lead twice, at the 10:43 mark and again with 10:12 remaining, before entering the locker room at the intermission leading 32-18. Nevada caused 19 first half turnovers by the Aggies and had 10 steals before halftime. The Pack shot 48 percent in the first half, connecting on 13 of 27 shots.
New Mexico State (7-15, 4-7 WAC) was led by Irma Kmitaite with 13 points and Sherell Neal had 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Nevada would build a 20-point lead, 40-20, with 17:03 remaining and had a 16-point edge with under six minutes to go. But New Mexico State cut it to seven, 51-44, with 1:27 left. Nevada was able to hang on for the 53-46 victory, their second on the road in the WAC this year.
The Pack forced 30 turnovers and had 15 steals. New Mexico State won the rebound battle, 42-30, but Nevada outshot New Mexico State, .412 to .32.