Saturday, March 1 WAC Women’s Recaps
Updated WAC Women's Basketball Standings
Fresno State 85
New Mexico State 84 (OT)
Box Score
LAS CRUCES, NM - Hayley Munro hit a three-quarter court shot at the buzzer in overtime to lift Fresno State to an 85-84 victory over New Mexico State on Saturday evening. The win ups Fresno States record to 17-10 overall and 12-2 in WAC play.
"I have never hit a shot like that in my life before," Munro said. "It was amazing. I can't explain it. It was just great. We practice it in training. We knew we could pull it off. I just threw it and said I hope it goes in. I didn't know what to do. I just jumped in the air and my team came running after me after that."
With 1.3 seconds left in the game the Bulldogs trailed 84-82 when the Aggies Tyshae Walton came to the free throw line for a one-and-one attempt. She missed the first attempt and Fresno State immediately called a time out with one second remaining.
On the ensuing possession, Bailey Amundsen threw the ball inbounds to the open Munro who fired up the game-winning shot. According to the Bulldog team the play was designed and executed to perfection.
"Believe it or not it actually was," Fresno State coach Adrian Wiggins said. "Coach Frank wanted to run a fake screen to try and get a charge. That is what we ran. Our outlet was a long lob to Hayley. She made a great cut and Bailey Amundsen made a great pass. Everything worked out. I couldn't imagine this right now."
Munro had a career high 19 points and 10 rebounds while Tierre Wilson had 19 points, Jaleesa Ross 18, LaShaunte Stephens 12 and Erica Henry 10.
The Bulldogs shot 44 percent from the field and turned the ball over only 13 times. The game was back and forth and the whole game as there was nine ties and 15 lead changes.
"It's unbelievable," Wiggins said. "It is a tribute to our senior leadership. They are not perfect but they believe. They love their school. They love their team and I am very proud of them. New Mexico State did a great job and had a great crowd here. We just played hard and tried. I am really proud of our team right now."
New Mexico State had a chance to win the game in regulation by Sherrell Neal missed two shots in the final seconds, sending the game to the extra stanza.
The Bulldogs led 42-32 at halftime.
Fresno State returns to the floor on Thursday when they play host to New Mexico State at 7 p.m. in the Save Mart Center. All general admission tickets for the game are $2. It is also senior night for Tierre Wilson and Erica Henry. The game can be heard live on 790 ESPN Radio, the Deuce.
Boise State 66
Hawai?i, 55
Box Score
BOISE, Idaho (3/1/2008) - Boise State University sent its seniors off in style with a 66-55 victory over the University of Hawai’i in the home finale Saturday night in Taco Bell Arena at Boise, Idaho. Ja’Lara Walker continued her recent surge leading the Broncos with team-highs for points and rebounds on 14 and eight respectively.
After taking a three-point lead into halftime the Broncos slowly pulled away from the Rainbow Wahine in the second half to win their 13th game in a row, the second longest win streak in program history. The victory keeps Boise State at first place in the Western Athletic Conference standings with a 13-2 league record.
The first half was a struggle as neither team seemed to get any momentum. Hawaii started the game with a 7-2 run to take their largest lead of the game three minutes into the contest. Boise State countered with a 12-2 run which included taking the lead for good on a Jenna Galassi jumper from the top of the key with 14:35 to play giving the Broncos a 11-9 advantage. By the time the run ended at the 13:56 mark Boise State led 14-9.
After extending their lead to six points, 23-17, with 6:31 left, the Broncos eventually settled for a three-point 25-22 score at the break. Both teams struggle with their shots as Boise State hit 29.4 percent from the floor compared to Hawaii’s 30.8.
The second half saw the Broncos increase their fortunes from the line hitting 46.9 percent (15-32) while Hawaii continued to struggle at 33.3 percent (10-30). Boise State opened the final 20 minutes with a 8-0 run to take an 11-point, 33-22, lead. The Broncos then maintained at least a seven point lead until the Hawaii pulled to within four points, 41-37, with 9:36 to go.
With the Rainbow Wahine closing in, the Broncos responded with an 11-2 run over the next three minutes to take a 11 point, 50-39, advantage.
They eventually stretched it to a game-high 14 points, 55-41, with 5:34 remaining. Hawaii was unable to pull any closer than eight points in the final five and half minutes.
Turnovers were big in the game as Hawaii gave it away 28 times compared to Boise State’s season low (tied) 11, resulting in a 26-to-nine Bronco advantage in points off turnovers. The blue and orange also dominated the paint 26-to-12 behind Walker’s 14 points.
Jenna Galassi followed Walker’s team highs with 12 points, four rebounds, one assist, while tying her career high for steals with four.
Tasha Harris added 11 points, three boards, five assists, and four steals, followed by Jackie Lee’s 10 points, five rebounds, three assists, one block, and three steals. Jamia Malone finished with nine points while Sierra Moeller chipped in five. Jessica Thompson finished with two points on a pair of free throws making it the first game in her career, 86 games, without a field goal.
Saundra Cariaga led Hawaii with a team-high 15 points and six rebounds.
Meanwhile, Tanya Smith finished with a double-double on 12 points and 15 rebounds. No one else had double digit points for the Wahine.
The win improves Boise State to 21-6 on the year and 13-2 in WAC action. It also increases their home win streak to 16 games making it the sixth longest active streak in the NCAA. The 13 consecutive league wins is also a new Bronco record. Hawaii drops to 11-16 overall and 5-9 in WAC play. Next up for Boise State is the season finale at Utah State this Thursday in Logan, Utah. A win there would guarantee the Broncos a share of their second consecutive league championship.
Louisiana Tech 70
Nevada 64
Box Score
RUSTON - There's something to say for winning ugly.
That's exactly what Louisiana Tech did Saturday night when the Lady Techsters overcame 24 turnovers in a 70-64 victory over Nevada before 1,213 fans at the Thomas Assembly Center.
Despite the turnovers and 23 offensive rebounds by Nevada, Tech defeated the Wolf Pack.
"I told the kids in the locker room that this box score wasn't going to be very pretty," said Tech head coach Chris Long. "However, I was proud that we fought through a lot of adversity and found a way to win. I thought we were the tougher basketball team tonight. Nevada is a very good team that causes you so many problems with their pressure. It affected us all night long. At times we didn't do a very good job of handling it, but we still made plays and won."
The victory was the third in a row for Tech (14-13, 8-6 WAC) which ends the regular season with a two-game road trip at Hawaii Thursday and at San Jose State Saturday.
Tech looked to be on control of the game early, building a 30-19 lead with 4:44 to play in the opening period behind the inside play of Shanavia Dowdell and Jo Sneed, who combined to hit 7-of-7 field goals in the first half.
However, with Tech starting point guard Tiawana Pringle on the bench in foul trouble, Nevada's relentless full-court man-to-man press took its toll on the Lady Techsters as the Wolf Pack (18-10, 9-6) forced four turnovers en route to a 9-2 run that closed the half. Tech entered the locker room leading only 32-24.
"I said before the game we couldn't afford for Pringle to get in foul trouble," Long said. "She handles their pressure better than any of our guards. Nevada did a good job of taking our point guard away at times and forcing some of our other guards to bring it up and we didn't always make good decisions. At times we fell into the trap of playing their style of basketball instead of running our offense and making them play defense for 30 seconds."
The second half of basketball was close throughout as Tech never surrendered its lead although the Wolf Pack kept it within six points until the Lady Techsters used a 7-0 run to push the advantage to 59-49 on a jumper by Tarkeisha Wysinger at the 2:38 mark.
Nevada was forced to foul and Tech hit 10-of-15 free throws in the final 2:20 to secure the win.
Sneed led Tech with 13 point and 14 rebounds while Nastassja Levingston added 12 points, Dowdell scored 11 points and Sidney Stewart added a career-high 10 points.
Dellena Criner led Nevada with 29 points while Sabrina Keys scored 13 points.
Idaho 77
San Jose State 66
Box Score
MOSCOW ? The University of Idaho women’s basketball team sent its four seniors out on a high note Saturday, as the Vandals took down San Jose State by a 77-66 score in the team’s home finale at the Cowan Spectrum.
The Vandals move up to 3-24 overall and 2-12 in Western Athletic Conference play, while the Spartans slip to 2-26 and 1-14. Idaho is now 6-1 under head coach Mike Divilbiss on Senior Night games. Sara Dennehy, Lindsey Koppen, Katie Schlotthauer and Hannah Wells all made their final home appearance.
“I’m really happy for those kids,” Divilbiss said. “They’ve worked really hard and it would have been so easy for them to check it in a long time ago, but they didn’t.”
After Thursday’s loss to Hawai’i, Divilbiss said that the team needed to be more aggressive on offense. Saturday night, the Vandals got after San Jose State on both ends of the floor, pushing the ball up the floor for lay-ups, forcing turnovers and driving to the basket.
“When you’re aggressive you shoot well and when you’re tentative, you don’t,” Divilbiss said. “We were really aggressive tonight.”
“It started on the defensive end, but offensively we were also aggressive and hopefully that will continue and we can win some more ballgames down the road here.”
It paid off in the first half, as Idaho shot 52.0 percent from the floor and scored a season-high 39 first-half points, then followed it with 38 more in the second half to finish with a season-high 77. The Vandals shot 45.5 percent from the field, their second-best shooting performance of the year.
Katie Madison owned the paint all night long and dropped a team season-high 28 points on eight-of-14 shooting, including 12-of-15 from the free throw line. She also pulled down eight boards, dished out three assists, gathered one steal and blocked one shot.
“It was awesome,” Madison said. “I wanted to do that for my seniors, because I’m really close to a lot of them. It was really fun.”
Rachele Kloke and Charlotte Otero also stepped up big for their seniors. Kloke had 13 points, the second-highest total of her career, on five-of-eight shooting, with two assists, a steal and a career-high two blocks. Otero tied a season-best with 10 points on three-of-four shooting, including two-for-two from beyond the arc.
It wasn’t all fun and games for the Vandals in the second half, as Idaho saw an eight-point lead quickly evaporate into a one-point deficit over the first 90 seconds of the second on a SJSU 9-0 run. In previous games, the Vandals might have slipped up and let the opponent run away, but not tonight. Kloke buried a mid-range jumper at the 13:16 mark to key an 11-0 Idaho run that put the Vandals up for good.
Yinka Olorunnife, the WAC’s top freshman rebounder, played true to her form and pulled down 13 boards, including nine on the defensive side. Therese Riedel, another Vandal freshman, had a solid performance and she pulled in six rebounds and scored two points.
With their home schedule now complete, the Vandals will head to Logan, Utah, next Saturday to go for the season-sweep against Utah State. Idaho beat the Aggies 70-64 in overtime on Jan. 19 at the Cowan Spectrum.