WAC Women’s Basketball Recaps - Jan. 17
Boise State 85, Utah State 77
Box Score
BOISE, Idaho - It was not pretty but Boise State out gunned Utah State to win their conference home opener 85-77 Thursday night in Taco Bell Arena. Jessica Thompson and Tasha Harris each scored 19 points to lead the Broncos past the Aggies to remain undefeated, 6-0, at home this season. It had been 33 days since the Broncos last home game when they defeated Sacramento State on Dec. 15.
Boise State opened the game on a 6-0 run in the first minute of the game and looked like they could run away from the Aggies. However, Utah State had other things in mind as they rallied with their own run out scoring the Broncos 14-2 over the next five minutes to take a 14-8 lead with 14:09 to play in the period.
The two then traded mini runs as the Aggies maintain a 1-6 point advantage until the eight minute mark. Utah State took a 26-20 lead on a Taylor Richards 3-pointer with 8:00 to play in the half. That was the last field goal they would record in the opening 20-minutes.
Boise State bumped up their defense forcing 11 Aggie turnovers in the first half and out scoring USU 17-5 down the stretch as the Broncos claimed a six-point halftime lead. Jenna Galassi led Boise State early with 11 first half points. Utah State’s Jenny Gross recorded nine points which included seven-of-10 free throw shots. Gross had all five, foul shots, of the Aggies points in the final eight minutes.
The second half was ugly with numerous runs by both teams. The Broncos struck first stretching their six-point, 37-31, halftime lead to 14 points, 51-37, by the 14:22 mark of the half. The Aggies then cut the lead to seven points, 52-45, with 11:21 to go.
Boise State then responded by taking a 16-point advantage on a couple of occasions, the last came with 6:25 showing on the clock and the score at 67-51. The game ended with Utah State making a run each time the
Broncos extended their lead into double-digit points.
Utah State eventually pulled to within six points in the closing minutes. Boise State’s last field goal came with 4:23 remaining. The Broncos closed the game at the foul line as Utah State reverted to fouling in an attempt to get back into the game. Boise State answered by nailing 12-of-16 free throws in the final two minutes. Harris went six-of-eight and Jackie Lee went four-of-four to lead four Broncos who went to the charity stripe in crunch time.
On the night Boise State shot 45.8 percent (27-59) from the court, 33.3 percent (5-15) from the arc, and 76.5 percent (26-34) from the free-throw line. Utah State hit 43.1 percent (28-65) from the floor,
26.1 percent (6-23) from the 3-point line, and 75 percent (15-20) from the foul line. Rebounding was even at 35 each, however, the Aggies held a slim eight-to-five advantage in second chance points.
Utah State entered the game leading the league in fewest turnovers per game at 15.4 tpg. Boise State forced 18 Aggie turnovers resulting in a
22-9 Bronco advantage in points off turnovers. Boise State committed 14 turnovers themselves.
Tasha Harris kept her streak of double-figure scoring games in tack with her 19 points extending her streak to 19 games. In addition to tying her career high for free throws going 10-of-12 from the line, she also added a team high eight rebounds, five assists, and four steals.
Jessica Thompson tied Harris for the team high in points with 19 to go with her three boards, four assists, one block, and three steals. Jenna Galassi recorded a career high 15 points to go with five rebounds, while Ja’Lara Walker added eight points, Jackie Lee had seven, and Amanda Stewart chipped in six.
Jamelah Brown led four Aggies in double-digit scoring with a team high
24 points to go with four rebounds. Senior post Jenny Gross recorded a double-double on 17 points and a team high 10 rebounds, followed by Danyelle Snelgro’s 13 points and Taylor Richard’s 10.
The win keeps Boise State undefeated at home going 6-0 to date, while moving them to 10-6 overall and 2-2 in WAC play. Utah State falls to 6-10 overall and 2-2 in league. Next up for the Broncos is Nevada (11-4, 2-0 WAC) at 7:00 p.m. Saturday night in Taco Bell Arena. The Wolf Pack was at Idaho Thursday night.
Fresno State 74, Hawai?i 54
Box Score
FRESNO, Calif. - The Fresno State women's basketball earned its seventh straight win by beating Hawai'i 74-54 on Thursday at the Save Mart Center. The win ups the Bulldogs record to 9-8 and a league best 4-0 in WAC play. Hawai'i dropped to 6-10 and 0-4 in conference.
"We are very pleased to get a home victory tonight, especially in our conference," Fresno State coach Adrian Wiggins said. "Hawaii is always a tough opponent for us. They are very physical and rebound very well. I was very proud of our effort tonight to out rebound them. I thought we did a great job of putting some pressure on the ball defensively in the second half that created a lot of transition buckets for us. Hawaii never let us put the game away. Until the very end when we hit a few three's to stretch the lead open, it was always a pretty tight game."
Jaleesa Ross scored a career high 20 points while grabbing eight rebounds and a career best six steals. Ross shot eight of 16 from the field and played 30 minutes.
"The best thing about it for me is that she is doing it sharing the basketball," Wiggins said on Ross." At the very end she had an offensive rebound and she had a chance to shoot a reverse layup but instead she passed it back out to Tierre for a jump shot that she made. She is a very good teammate. Her teammates appreciate that and keep getting her the ball. She is very confident and very poised."
Tierre Wilson scored in double figures for the 28th straight game as she had 16 points, seven rebounds and a career high eight assists. Erica Henry added 12 points and four rebounds for the Dogs.
Fresno State shot 41 percent from the field and out rebounded Hawai'i 43-35. The Bulldog defense also forced the Rainbow Wahine into 25 turnovers. The Bulldog defense also had a season-high 15 steals.
The Bulldogs never trailed in the game and opened the contest by jumping out to a 10-3 lead following back-to-back 3 pointers by Ross four minutes into the contest. Hawai'i got within one point at two different occasions during the half but the Bulldogs still held a 35-30 lead at the break.
Fresno State scored the first nine points of the second half to take a 46-30 lead after baskets by Henry, Wilson, Taja Edwards and Ross four minutes into the final period. The Rainbow Wahine got within seven at 49-42 with 11:19 left in the game before the Bulldogs went on a run to lead 68-48 with 3:40 to play.
"I felt like we got better as the game went on," Wiggins said. "That is what you want."
Fresno State returns to the floor on Tuesday to host San Jose State at the Save Mart Center. Tip off is at 7 p.m. and the game can be heard live on 790 ESPN Radio, the Deuce.
Nevada 76, Idaho 53
Box Score
MOSCOW, Idaho ? Dellena Criner scored 29 points to lead two Nevada players in double figures as the University of Nevada women’s basketball team beat Idaho 76-53 Thursday night to improve to 12-4 overall this season and 3-0 in conference play. Nevada remains undefeated in Western Athletic Conference play and opened WAC play 3-0 for the first time since joining the conference in 2000-01.
Nevada opened the game on a 9-0 run on a three by Dellena Criner and baskets from Cherlanda Franklin, Brandi Fitzgerald and Mikail Price. Idaho cut Nevada’s early lead to 9-6 with 14:53 left to play in the first half before baskets by Criner and Fitzgerald and a three by Marianne Lombardi extended Nevada’s lead to 10, 16-6, with 13:15 remaining in the first half.
Johnna Ward and Fitzgerald hit three pointers on back-to-back possessions for Nevada with 7:01 left in the first half, giving the Pack a 14 point lead, 28-14. Idaho’s Sara Dennehy cut Nevada’s lead to 32-28 on a pair of free throws with 2:32 left in the half but Fitzgerald hit a three with 1:20 remaining and Bre`Anna Henry hit a jumper on the next possession as Nevada pushed its lead back up to 11 points, 39-28, with just under one minute remaining in the first half.
Nevada, who held the Vandals without a field goal over the final 4:28 of the first half, took a 39-28 lead into the half. The Pack shot 51.7 percent (15-of-29) from the floor in the first half and 62.5 percent (5-of-8) from three point range. The Vandals shot 36.4 percent (8-of-22) from the floor in the first half.
Idaho cut Nevada’s lead to eight, 48-40, but the Pack quickly increased its lead to 55-40 with 12:58 remaining after a layup by Lombardi and a pair of free throws by Criner. A three point play by Criner with just over 11 minutes in the game put Nevada up 58-42.
A three-pointer by Criner extended Nevada’s lead to 18 points, 67-49 with 6:03 remaining in the game and Nevada extended its lead to as many as 23 late in the second half.
Criner scored a game-high 29 points including going 10-for-10 from the free throw line. Fitzgerald added 16 points for Nevada while Price and Jennifer Gross each ended the game with six points. Franklin grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and five steals for Nevada.
As a team, the Pack shot 49.1 percent (26-of-53) from the floor and 53.3 percent (8-of-15) from three point range. Idaho ended the game shooting 42.6 percent (20-of-47) from the floor. Katie Madison led the Vandals with a team-high 22 points and 10 rebounds.
Nevada, who has won seven of its last eight games, will play at Boise State on Saturday at 7 p.m. MT.