Saturday, Jan. 5 WAC Recaps
Fresno State 73, Boise State 63
Box Score
FRESNO, Calif. - It had all the energy and enthusiasm of a WAC tournament contest. And although it was only an early season matchup of conference foes, the Bulldogs and Broncos battled like it was a title fight. Fresno State used clutch free throw shooting in the final minutes and overcame a second half charge from Boise State to beat the Broncos 73-63, Saturday afternoon at the Save Mart Center.
The Bulldogs shot 17-of-20 from the charity stripe, including 7-of-8 in the final two minutes of the game.
Fresno State improved to 7-8 on the season while dropping Boise State to 8-5. The Bulldogs extended their winning streak to five games and snapped a two-game losing streak to the Broncos.
Fresno State led by 19 at the half, but Boise State roared back with a furious charge to start the second half. Boise State's first lead of the game came after a 24-4 run to pull ahead 44-43 with 13:06 left. The Broncos led by as many as five, using layups in transition and a hot shooting hand from Jessica Thompson to take control.
But Fresno State regained its composure to go on a 13-2 run over the next five minutes. Freshman guard Emma Andrews found senior guard Tierre Wilson on a backdoor layup to pull Fresno State within one. And after the Bulldogs regained the lead for good, Bailey Amundsen capped the rally with a long three to put Fresno State up by six.
Boise State was only able to get within four points during the final five six minutes and Fresno State closed out the game by taking care of the basketball and hitting its free throws.
Fresno State took a 39-20 advantage to the locker room after a 17-4 run to end the first half.
The Bulldogs were only 8-25 from beyond the 3-point line, but got to the basket much easier then they did against Louisiana Tech on Thursday night. During the middle of the first half, junior guard LaToya Brown hit Wilson on a backdoor pass and Wilson then threw a behind-the-back pass to freshman forward Hayley Munro for an easy layup. Munro followed by hitting a three from the top of the arc and senior center Erica Henry then made a steal and dished to Wilson for a driving layup that gave the Dogs a 34-18 lead with 2:51 left in the first period.
Freshman guard Jaleesa Ross heated up in the later part of the first half, hitting three shots from downtown. Brown hit her only shot of the game in the first half, a three from the right elbow.
Munro and Wilson each led the Bulldogs with 14 points a piece. Ross added 13 and Henry chipped in with eight. Four Bulldogs were perfect from the free-throw line and Munro led Fresno State with nine rebounds.
Thompson led all scorers with 26 points and Boise State's Tasha Harris had 17.
Utah State 68, San Jose State 58
Box Score
LOGAN, Utah - A 12-0 run late in the first half fueled Utah State's 68-58 win over San Jose State Saturday night in women's basketball action at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. It was USU's Western Athletic Conference opener and was the first time in the Aggies' three seasons in the league that they have opened conference action with a win.
Junior forward Lindsey Shipley netted a career-high 20 points, topping her previous career high of 19 set just three games ago against Saint Mary's on Dec. 22. Sophomore guard Danyelle Snelgro tallied 10 points and five assists, which were matched by senior forward Jenny Gross' career-high five helpers to tie for team-leading honors. Senior guard Taylor Richards snared a team-high five rebounds.
USU improved to 7-8 in conference openers overall and 6-4 in conference home openers.
The Aggies won their second in a row and three of last four to improve to 5-8 overall, while SJSU lost its seventh-straight in falling to 1-13 overall and 0-1 in WAC play.
Utah State has now won two of the last three against San Jose State, with both wins coming on the Aggies' home court and USU now trails the all-time series, 4-2.
The Spartans were led by Natalie White's 18 points and seven rebounds, while Sayja Sumler added nine points and seven boards, as SJSU out-rebounded USU, 38-29.
Shipley hit 8-of-10 (80.0 percent) from the field, to lead USU to 26-of-47 (55.3 percent) in the field goal shooting department. The Aggies were 3-of-12 (25.0 percent) behind the three-point arc and were 13-of-16 (81.3 percent) at the free throw line.
SJSU hit just 36.8 percent (21-of-57) field goal shooting, draining 60.0 percent (6-of-10) from three-point land with White netting a game-high three treys. The Spartans were also just 10-of-24 (41.7 percent) from the charity stripe.
USU scored 27 points off of SJSU's 24 turnovers, but the Aggies also committed 24 miscues.
Gross and Snelgro's 10 combined assists were half of USU's 20 helpers as a team.
Utah State also had a season-high eight blocks as a team, doubling the previous high of four done twice this season. Sophomore forward Nicole Johnson had a game-high two swats.
After SJSU led 11-9, USU went on a 9-3 run to take an 18-14 lead at the 12:08 mark after a Shipley layup and the Aggies never trailed again. Utah State later led 28-20 before Shipley started a 12-0 run with a jumper and junior guard Ana Pares capped the streak with a steal and layup with 1:21 left in the half for a 40-20 Aggie advantage. The Spartans scored the final four points of the first stanza to make the scoreboard read 40-24 at the break.
White scored SJSU's last two points of the first half and the first 11 of the second half to pull the Spartans within 46-33 less than four minutes into action.
Shipley regained control for USU with a jumper with 14:09 remaining and the Aggies kept the Spartans at bay from there on out, stretching the lead to 21 on a Gross layup with 6:01 left in the game.
SJSU mounted a late charge on the USU reserves, trimming the deficit to 66-56 with 56 seconds on the clock, but couldn't get any closer.
Thursday, Jan. 3 WAC Recaps
New Mexico State 73, Idaho 61
Box Score
LAS CRUCES, New Mexico ? Four Aggies scored in double figures as the New Mexico State women’s basketball team won its WAC opener, 73-61 Thursday evening over Idaho at the Pan American Center.
Sophomore guard Hannah Spanich tied her career-high with 12 points, mostly in part from her 8-for-8 performance at the free throw line. Senior forward Sherell Neal picked up a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds while classmate Anikia Jawara and junior guard Tyshae Walton both pitched in 10 points.
The Aggies (10-3, 1-0 WAC) got to the free-throw line a season-high 37 times in the game, making 26 of them.
New Mexico State forced the Vandals (1-12, 0-1) to turn the ball over 22 times, leading to 25 points and NMSU received another 31 points from its bench. 10 of the 12 Aggies who played tonight scored.
Head coach Darin Spence knew that Idaho would be hungry coming in as they are looking for its breakout game of the season.
“I was nervous coming in because they are really a pretty solid ball club with some good players,” Spence said. “I knew our team would come out and play with some resolve because we know what this year means to us. I’m obviously pleased with going 1-0 and it was a good first WAC game for us.”
The game was tied at 15 eight minutes into the game, but a 16-4 Aggie run helped NMSU jump out to a 17-point lead late in the first half.
In the second half NMSU continued to lead big and at the 7:29 mark they found themselves up by 19, the largest lead of the game. Idaho picked away at the lead towards the end, but it was too little too late for the Vandals.
Freshman guard Danisha Corbett had a career-high seven points with two rebounds in 11 minutes, as Spence was trying to get his reserves more playing experience. Junior center Niki Holt added three points, one rebound and a blocked shot in her seven minutes on the court.
The Aggies came out and made their first two shots of the game, but after that they made just one of their next six field goal attempts.
Jawara had five of the Aggies first eight points. At 14:48 freshman Madison Spence drove the lane for the layup while being fouled, and after making the free throw, NMSU was up 11-10.
At the 10:34 mark with NMSU up 17-15, the Vandals picked up their seventh team foul putting the Aggies in the bonus. Jawara made two free throws and then junior guard Tyshae Walton deflected a Vandal pass right to Jawara who gave it back to the running Walton for the uncontested layup, putting NMSU up 21-15.
Those four-straight points in 22 seconds started a 12-3 run that was capped off when senior guard Irma Kmitaite-Smith hit classmate Monique Bribiescas at the top of the key for the open 3-pointer, giving NMSU a 29-18 lead with 6:32 left in the half.
After seven more unanswered points, five of which came from Corbett, one free throw from Idaho forward Yinka Olorunnife ended a three and a half minute scoreless stretch from UI.
That made the score 36-22 with 2:42 left in the half and it ended with the Aggies taking a 39-24 lead into the locker room. New Mexico State shot 48.1 percent from the field in the first half of the game and got to the free-throw line 16 times, making 11 of its attempts.
Seven minutes into the second half the Aggies found themselves up by 17 again after consecutive baskets from senior forward Carla Denning and Neal.
Four straight free throws form the Aggies put NMSU up by 19 at 7:29. Idaho cut the Aggies lead down to 11 with an 11-3 run over the next five minutes.
However that was as close as Idaho would get, as the Aggies closed out the game for the victory.
Spence finished the game with eight points and four assists.
The Aggies improved to 6-1 on the year when they shoot over 40 percent from the field; tonight NMSU shot 40.7 percent and was 3-of-7 from beyond the 3-point line.
Neal’s double-double was the 31st of her career. She also moved into 15th place on the NMSU career scoring record list with 1,157 points and sixth on the career rebounding record sheet with 842.
Fresno State 75, Louisiana Tech 52
Box Score
FRESNO, Calif. - The Bulldogs are ready for the real season to begin!
That was the statement the Fresno State women's basketball team made to Louisiana Tech and the rest of the Western Athletic Conference on Thursday night at the Save Mart Center. The Bulldogs downed the Lady Techsters 75-52 in the conference opener, winning their fourth straight while improving to 6-8 on the season.
It was the fourth consecutive win in WAC openers for the Bulldogs, who used efficient three-point shooting and suffocating defense to build a 25-point halftime cushion. The victory also marked the third consecutive home win for the Bulldogs over Louisiana Tech.
Erica Henry led Fresno State with 16 points, while Bailey Amundsen, Jaleesa Ross and Tierre Wilson also reached double-figures. Henry also had eight rebounds, four steals and two blocks.
Fresno State shot nearly 50-percent from beyond the arc on 12-of-25 shooting for the game. The 12 threes tied a season-high for the Bulldogs who also had a dozen from long range against Cal-State Bakersfield on Dec. 15.
Fresno State took an early 7-0 advantage to start the game and never relinquished the lead. Haley Munro opened the scoring with a layup and Henry converted a three-point play after being fouled on a layup. Munro then followed with a jumper from 10-feet.
Fresno State increased its lead to 20-10 on two straight Wilson three-pointers. Then the `Dogs took a 16 point advantage with less than seven minutes left in the first half after two consecutive Jaleesa Ross threes.
Fresno State finished the first half on 16-4 run, leading 46-21 at the break. The Bulldogs ended the first half shooting 50-percent from the field and 53-percent from downtown on 9-17 shooting.
In the second half, Lousiana Tech cut the deficit to 13 points. But the Bulldogs used offensive rebounds and steals to increase their lead back to 20 in the final two minutes of the contest.
Twelve Bulldogs logged minutes and 10 players got in the scorebook. The `Dogs created 11 steals and forced 22 turnovers.
Wilson tallied her 25th consecutive game of double-figures in points on a steal and layup with 1:39 left in the game. Hayley Munro had a team-high seven assists.
The Bulldogs will look to continue their momentum on Saturday against Boise State at 1 p.m. in the Save Mart Center.