Thursday, Feb. 14 WAC Women’s Recaps
Updated WAC Standings Available Here
Boise State 80
Nevada 69
Box Score
RENO, Nev. (2/14/08) - Boise State rolled off a 26-8 run down the final stretch, 8:48, to hand Nevada a 80-69 defeat at the Lawlor Events Center in Reno. Tasha Harris scored a team-high 20 points to lead the Broncos to their first victory at Reno in four years. Sophomore center Ja’Lara Walker had a career night to back Harris up with her first ever double-double on career bests for points and rebounds with 18 and 11 respectively. The win gives the Broncos a little breathing room at second place in the standings as they attempt to defend their conference title.
The first half was intense as the teams pressured every move causing the two squads to struggle holding onto the ball. They combined for 28 turnovers, 14 apiece, in the first half as Boise State out slugged the Wolf Pack at the buzzer claiming a one-point advantage, 36-35, at the break. Boise State opened the game taking a nine-point lead, 18-9, with 11:01 to play in the first period. Nevada battled back to take a four point lead, 28-24, by the four minute mark.
After the Broncos initial run to a nine-point advantage the game remained a close four point game most of the way until the end of the game when Boise State slowly pulled away. In the first half both teams shot the ball well with Boise State making 50 percent of their opportunities while Nevada converted 54.5 percent. The key was maintaining possession of the ball in order to get a shot off.
The second half was a battle as well as the teams continued to pressure on every possession. With the score tied at 50 with 12:15 to play, Nevada went on a 11-to-four run to give them their largest lead of the night at seven points, 61-54, with just under nine minutes to go. Brandi Fitzgerald scored the first three points in the run while Johnna Ward finished it with eight straight points.
Boise State then regrouped and rallied with a 9-2 run to tie the game at 63 all with 6:27 left. The Broncos then pulled away from the Wolf Pack in the final six and a half minutes with a 17-6 run including eight by Harris.
Four Broncos recorded double-digit points on the night led by Tasha Harris’ 20 points, four boards, four assists, and two steals. Walker was second with the double-double, followed by Jenna Galassi’s 14 points, she recorded the first seven Broncos points before foul trouble sent her to the bench with 13 minutes plus to play in the first period. Jessica Thompson hit some key shots down the stretch to finish with 11 points, one rebound, five assists, and four steals. Jackie Lee contributed nine points and six rebounds.
The WAC’s leading scorer, Nevada’s Dellena Criner was held to three points, she had 33 points in the first meeting with the Broncos in Boise. Instead, the Wolf Pack was led by Johnna Ward with 22 points, four-of-eight from the arc. Brandi Fitzgerald was second with 13 points and six boards, followed by Mikail Price with 11 points, and Cherlanda Franklin with 10 points and six rebounds.
The win snapped a 10-game home win streak for Nevada at the Lawlor Events Center as the Broncos become the first WAC team to when there this season. Boise State extends their overall win streak to 10 games as they improve to 10-2 in league good for second place in the conference standings while they move to 18-6 on the year. Nevada falls into a third place tie, with New Mexico State, at 8-3 in conference and 17-7 overall.
This game was the lone contest for Boise State this week. They will now prepare to host arch-rival Idaho when the Vandals come to turn next Thursday at 7:00 p.m. (Mountain) in Taco Bell Arena.
Fresno State 68
Idaho 38
Box Score
FRESNO, Calif. - The Fresno State women's basketball team won its fourth-straight contest on Thursday evening, beating Idaho 68-38 behind an all-around team effort. The Bulldogs improved to 15-9 overall and 10-1 in Western Athletic Conference play, maintaining the top spot in the league.
Fresno State used a balanced scoring attack and pressure defense en route to its ninth-straight win at the Save Mart Center.
Freshman guard Jaleesa Ross heated up in the second half and led all scorers with 16 points, going 6-for-11 from the field. Only Ross scored in doubles figures, but Fresno State distributed the ball well, found easily layups inside and converted buckets in transition frequently.
Fresno State opened the game with an 8-0 run and led by as much as 16 in the first half, including a 31-15 advantage at the break.
The Bulldogs increased their lead to 20 at 16:21 mark during the second period. Following two Taja Edwards free throw makes with 12:47 left, 11 Bulldogs had reached the scorebook.
When sophomore guard Brittny Jones converted a layup at the conclusion of the game, all 12 of the Bulldogs had scored and Fresno State ended with its largest lead.
Junior LaToya Brown led the Bulldogs with five assists, while senior Tierre Wilson and freshman Hayley Munro each pulled down eight rebounds. Fresno State had five blocked shots, made 10 steals and out-rebounded Idaho 51-33.
Fresno State held Idaho to 22 percent from the field and only the Vandals' Katie Madison was able to score in double figures. Fresno State, meanwhile, attempted three fewer shots than Idaho and managed 45 percent from the field.
Fresno State now hits the road for three straight games when it heads to Hawai'i, Utah State and New Mexico State.
New Mexico State 65
Louisiana Tech 55
Box Score
LAS CRUCES ? Senior forward Anikia Jawara scored 16 second half points to help the New Mexico State women’s basketball team stave off a 21-5 Louisiana Tech run to open the second half and pull out a 65-55 victory Thursday night at the Pan American Center.
The 10-point victory is the Aggies first ever win over Louisiana Tech in the regular season. NMSU now improves to 18-6 on the year and 8-3 in WAC play with its 10th-straight home victory while the Lady Techsters fall to 11-13 and 5-6 in the league.
New Mexico State was firing from all cylinders right off the opening tip and outscored the Lady Techsters 21-7 in the first 12 and a half minutes of the game. La. Tech shot just 19.4 percent in the opening half and the Aggies blocked eight shots to help them pull out to a 16-point halftime lead.
The Lady Techsters opened with a 14-0 run to start the second half and the game would eventually become tied at 39. Jawara was able to swing the momentum back to the Aggies who outscored La. Tech by 10 points in the final 9:48 of play to pull out the victory.
Jawara finish with a team-high 18 points to go along with five rebounds. Senior forward Sherell Neal picked up her 11th double-double of the season with 15 points and 13 rebounds.
Forward’s JoKeirra Sneed and Shanavia Dowdell led the Lady Techsters in the loss, combining for 37 of La. Tech’s 55 points. Sneed had 18 points and 17 rebounds while Dowdell led all scores with 19 points.
The Aggies held Louisiana Tech to just 28.4 percent shooting from the field, which is the fourth time this season that NMSU has held a team under 30 percent shooting. New Mexico State forced 18 turnovers and finished with nine blocked shots.
Neal got the Aggies going at the start of the game by hitting two 3-pointers and gathering four rebounds in the first nine minutes of the game to help NMSU jump out to a 17-7 lead.
Defensively New Mexico State came out on top of its game holding the Lady Techsters to just 3-of-20 shooting from the field in the first 14 minutes of the game. Tiawana Pringle ended a five and a half minute scoreless stretch for the Lady Techsters with her 3-pointer at 5:33.
Freshman guard Madison Spence answered the Lady Techsters fourth basket of the game with a 3-pointer at 5:08 to put NMSU up 26-12. Senior guard Monique Bribiescas hit two treys and scored the Aggies final eight points in the final three minutes to give New Mexico State a 34-18 lead after 20 minutes of play.
La. Tech’s 18 first-half points tied for the second lowest total NMSU has held a team to in a half this season and it was the 12 forced turnovers and eight blocked shots that hounded the Lady Techsters in the opening frame.
The first five minutes of the second half was a completely different story from the first, as La. Tech opened with a 14 unanswered points to cut the Aggies lead down to two.
New Mexico State missed its first eight shots until junior guard Tyshae Walton finally stopped the bleeding with a free throw that sophomore guard Hannah Spanich followed on the next possession with a put-back layup off an offensive rebound.
Dowdell tied the game up at 39 for the Lady Techsters with her eighth point of the second half. Jawara swung the momentum back to the Aggies side with her energetic play as she scored five points in a 12-1 Aggie run over 4:25.
That run catapulted NMSU to a 12 point lead with 4:05 to play and the Aggies would never look back as they closed out the game for the victory.
Bribiescas finished the game scoring 10 points on 2-of-4 shooting and she was 4-of-7 at the free-throw line. New Mexico State as a team was 7-for-9 at the line in the final two minutes to help secure the victory.
The Aggies are now within two victories with five regular season games remaining of pulling off the programs 10th season with 20 or more wins. The last time it was done was in 1995-96 when NMSU finished 20-10.
New Mexico State is now off for a week until they travel to San Jose, Calif. to try to sweep the San Jose State Spartans on Feb. 21. Tip-off is set for 8:00 p.m. MDT.
Utah State 61
San Jose State 60
Box Score
San Jose?Emily Nichols scored a team-high 15 points, all from three-point range, but two missed three-point field goal by San Jose State in the final five seconds of the game doomed the Spartans as the team lost by one point, 61-60, to Utah State Thursday night in a Western Athletic Conference game at the Event Center.
The Spartans trailed 61-58 after Aggie Taylor Richards made her free throw with 17 seconds remaining but missed the second shot. Brittany Powell grabbed the defensive rebound for San Jose State and the Spartans used two timeouts with 13 seconds left to set-up the potential tying three-point field goal. Christine Martin found herself wide-open for a three-pointer on the left baseline with five seconds remaining, but the shot fell short.
Alisha Hicks then rebounded the ball and tried a three-pointer from the right baseline which was rebounded by Myosha Barnes who scored a layup as time expired on San Jose State.
“We played with good energy tonight, but our defense cannot wait until the last minute of play to get stops,” said San Jose State head coach Pam DeCosta. “We can’t let a team shoot 48 percent from the field and get good shots. We have to continue to work hard on making layups because we missed too many tonight.”
Nichols tied her career-high with 15 points in the game. She was 5-of-7 from three-point range including 3-for-3 in the second half. Nichols added one rebound and one steal in 27 minutes played.
Martin added 13 points including three three-point field goals made. Powell, Hicks and Brittany Imaku each grabbed six rebounds to lead the team. Barnes had a team-high five assists, while Imaku had three assists and three steals. Sayja Sumler scored eight points and dished out three assists. The Spartans were without their leading scorer, Natalie White, due to her suspension from the team for violations of team rules.
Utah State was led by Jamelah Brown and Jenny Gross who each had 16 points. Richards added 15 points and seven rebounds. Brown led the Aggies with nine rebounds, and Danyelle Snelgro dished out five assists. Utah State shot 48.8 percent from the field including 50 percent in the second half (11-22).
San Jose State now travels to Louisiana Tech for a game this Saturday, February 16, at 7 p.m. CST. The Spartans return home next Thursday, February 21, for a game against New Mexico State. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m., in The Event Center.