Women’s Basketball Results ? March 6
Boise State 65
Utah State 57
LOGAN, Utah (3/6/08) - Boise State women’s basketball clinched a share of their second consecutive Western Athletic Conference championship with a hard fought 65-57 win at Utah State Thursday night in Logan, Utah.
Tasha Harris paced the Broncos with a team high 18 points as Boise State improves to 22-6 overall and 14-2 in league. The 14 conference wins ties the school record for league victories in a season.
Boise State led for most of the night trailing only once 41-40 with 12:04 to play in the second period. Boise State’s response was a 15-3 run sparked by two Jamia Malone 3-pointers sandwich around a Harris jumper.
By the time the run ended the Broncos were up 55-43 with 5:50 remaining, the 12 points was the largest lead of the second half. As the game reached the one minute mark the Aggies began to foul. Boise State hit six-of-eight free throws, three by Jessica Thompson, in the final minute to win the game.
Harris led Boise State with 18 points, six rebounds, four assists, and two steals in 32 minutes. Senior Jackie Lee was the only other Bronco in double-figures with 13 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Jamia Malone finished with nine second half points, followed by seven from Ja'Lara Walker, six by Jenna Galassi and Jessica Thompson, four by Sierra Moeller, and two by Melissa Rima.
Utah State was led by Taylor Richards with 14 points, five rebounds, three assists, and six steals. Vallivue High (Caldwell, Idaho) graduate Jenny Gross finished with a double-double on 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Boise State increases their win streak to 14 straight with the eight-point victory over the Aggies. The Utah State Aggies fall to 9-18 on the year and 5-10 in WAC play.
Boise State will wait to see how Fresno State does in their final two games before the Broncos know whether they share the title or win it outright. The Bulldogs defeated New Mexico State Thursday night and play at Nevada Saturday.
Boise State’s next action will be next Wednesday at the WAC Tournament’s quarterfinal round in Las Cruces, N.M. Their opponent and tip time is yet to be determined.
Fresno State 68
New Mexico State 52
FRESNO, Calif.- The Fresno State women’s basketball team sent its two seniors, Erica Henry and Tierre Wilson out in style as the Bulldogs defeated New Mexico State 68-52 Thursday evening at the Save Mart Center in front of a crowd of 3,147 fans.
The wins ups the Fresno State record to 18-10 and 13-2 in WAC and they have a chance to clinch a share of the programs first ever WAC title with a win Saturday night at Nevada. New Mexico State dropped to 20-8 and 10-5 in conference play.
“New Mexico State is a very sound basketball team and well coached,” Fresno State coach Adrian Wiggins said. “We just knew we had to play good basketball for a long period of time. The good thing was that we got better as the game went on. The last time we played them I felt like we relaxed in some areas like blocking out. Tonight we out rebounded them by a bunch. That is a positive thing.”
The Bulldogs finished their home season 10-3 and a perfect 8-0 in WAC play. The average home win for the Bulldogs was 74-60 in the 13 games and the scoring margin improved to 73-52 in WAC home games.
It was the play of Wilson and Henry that led the Bulldogs to the victory. Wilson finished her final game in the Save Mart Center with 15 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals in 32 minutes of play while Henry had 11 points, 11 rebounds, two blocks and one steal.
“You really learn to appreciate the time you have with them,” Wiggins said. “It is very special and such a neat time. I get to see a lot of change. I am going to miss them. They have been really good followers and have become absolutely great leaders.”
Fresno State finished with four players in double figures. Hayley Munro had 14 points and Jaleesa Ross had 12 points and nine rebounds.
The Bulldogs shot 42 percent from the field while the Aggies shot 38 percent and were forced into 19 turnovers. The Bulldogs tied a season high of 15 steals.
The Dogs never trailed in the game but the Aggies kept the game close until late in the second half. Fresno State led 28-24 at halftime and then opened the second half by jumping out to an 43-32 lead with 15:24 left in the game following a steal and a layup by Wilson.
The lead was extended to as many as 16 points at 50-34 three minutes later after two free throws by Marnique Arnold.
“We had some energy,” Wiggins said on his teams play in the second half. “I thought our ball pressure really picked up. Our guards were really getting after the basketball and pressuring the wings which created some turnovers and lay up opportunities. If you have watched us long enough, if we start getting lay up opportunities in the fast break we get excited and it affects our whole offense.”
Hawai?i 84
Louisiana Tech 77
HONOLULU - The University of Hawaii women's basketball team led wire-to-wire against Louisiana Tech and a career-high 24 points by Keisha Kanekoa gave UH an 84-77 victory Thursday night at the Stan Sheriff Center.
Kanekoa came off the bench and was on fire from the field. The freshman guard connected on 7 of 10 shots, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range and went 7 for 7 from the free throw line.
The Rainbow Wahine jumped in front of the Lady Techsters early 8-0 and never surrendered the lead. With the win UH improves to 12-16 overall and 6-9 in WAC play. Louisiana Tech falls to 14-14 overall and 8-7 in conference.
Thursday’s victory was the second time UH has beaten Louisiana Tech at the Stan Sheriff Center in the last three years. The Rainbow Wahine beat the Lady Techsters during conference play in 2005.
The 84 points for UH matches its second highest point total of the season. The Rainbow Wahine also shot 50 percent from the field for the fourth time this season. The hot shooting continued behind the arc for the Rainbow Wahine as well as they matched a season-high with eight 3-pointers.
Four players reached double figures with Kanekoa leading the way. Tanya Smith recorded her 19th double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds and Saundra Cariaga and Amy Kotani each scored 13 points.
To start the first half, the Rainbow Wahine went on an 8-0 run and led 14-4 after six minutes of action. Going into the break, UH continued to lead 35-31.
UH got a spark off the bench in the opening half, with Kanekoa scoring 12 points, including two 3-pointers. Kotani added five points and three players had four points.
The Rainbow Wahine shot 40.6 percent in the first half in a hard fought battle, and went 4 for 8 from long range. UH's biggest lead of the first half was 10, while Louisiana Tech never led.
The Rainbow Wahine return to action Saturday night when they host New Mexico State at 7 p.m. Saturday will be senior night at the Stan Sheriff Center, where five seniors, Iwona Zagrobelna, Shannon Nishi, Saundra Cariaga, Tanya Smith and Amy Kotani will be honored.