Women’s Basketball Results ? March 8
Fresno State 82
Nevada 68
Reno, NV- The Fresno State women’s basketball team can call themselves conference champions for the first time in the program’s 43 year history after beating Nevada 82-68 Saturday night at the Lawlor Events Center. And it is only fitting that seniors Tierre Wilson and Erica Henry were the ones that helped guide the Bulldogs to the title.
Henry had a career high 21 points to go along with a game-high 11 rebounds while Wilson had 25 points, six assists and five rebounds.
“They deserve it,” Fresno State coach Adrian Wiggins said on his two seniors. “They deserve this moment in the fact that they have been committed and worked really hard. I am just really happy for them. They continue to grow and they continue to become better players. Every time they step on the floor they get smarter and smarter. That has just been a wonderful thing to be their coach.”
The win gives Fresno State a 19-10 record and a 14-2 record in the WAC. The Dogs, who tied Boise State for the top spot in the conference, will go into next week’s WAC tournament with the No. 1 seed.
“It hasn’t really sunk yet,” Wiggins said. “I am trying to be real careful. We still have the WAC tournament and you want to perform well there. I am going to try and stay focused but I am very proud of our players.”
Hayley Munro had 10 points and eight rebounds while Jaleesa Ross had 10 points and six rebounds.
“Our seniors led by example,” Wiggins said. “Every player that was in uniform contributed tonight in a meaningful way.”
Fresno State shot 51 percent from the floor and held Nevada to 37 percent shooting. The Dogs also out rebounded Nevada 46-33.
After the first minute of the game the Bulldogs took the lead for good and led by as many as 12 points in the first half at 32-20 with 4:09 to play until the break. The Bulldogs led 39-31 at halftime.
Fresno State led by as many as 16 points at 70-54 with 6:16 left in the game following a LaToya Brown layup.
The Bulldogs will play on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. against San Jose State or Nevada in the quarterfinal round of the WAC tournament.
Idaho 67
Utah State 55
LOGAN, Utah ? The University of Idaho women’s basketball team played what was easily its best game of the year on Saturday, as the Vandals dropped Utah State by a score of 67-55 on senior night at Logan, Utah, to get their first road win of the season.
“It takes tremendous character and ?teamness’ to win on the road,” Idaho head coach Mike Divilbiss said. “They’re starting to bond and believe in each other and they’re really playing well right now. Everyone contributed tonight and it was really neat to see.”
While it was senior night for the Aggies, it was Idaho senior Sara Dennehy who stole the show.
Dennehy busted out a season-high 20 points, as well as seven boards, four assists and one block in her final regular-season game as a Vandal. Freshman Therese Riedel added 12 points on six-of-10 shooting with six boards.
“The seniors are just excited to finish their careers out well,” Divilbiss said. “Sara is so skilled. When she gets her mind made up that she’s going to play, she can really go.
“It didn’t show in the stats, but Katie Schlotthauer was really good for us defensively and Lindsey (Koppen) gave us a good spark early and hit a big shot for us.”
Sophomore Katie Madison saw her eight-game double-digit scoring streak end at eight games, but still added seven points and 10 boards after twisting her ankle early in the first half.
Idaho tied its season-high with 45.5 percent shooting from the field, while Utah State started off one-of-11 from the field and didn’t do too much better, as the Aggies finished up the game shooting just 26.9 percent from the floor. Utah State was just one-of-13 (7.7 percent) from beyond the three-point line for the game.
The win brings Idaho up to 4-24 on the season and 3-13 in Western Athletic Conference play and drops Utah State to 9-19 and 5-11 in the conference. The win also gives Idaho its first back-to-back conference wins since beating Boise State and Utah State in successive games on March 3 and March 7 of 2006.
Jenny Gross led the Aggies with 18 points and six rebounds, while Shawnta Pope and Danyelle Snelgro added 13 each.
Idaho out-rebounded Utah State by a 43-41 margin and actually had more turnovers than the Aggies, but Idaho’s hot shooting was enough to hold off Utah State.
With the final games of the regular season coming to a close, the WAC tournament picture has become much clearer. Fresno State, with its big win over Nevada on Saturday, has clinched the top seed in the tournament. The Vandals will meet San Jose State in the play-in game on Tuesday for a chance to take on the Bulldogs in Wednesday’s quarterfinal matchup.
“Everybody is 0-0 now,” Divilbiss said. “I think this game can really help our belief and confidence.
“We’ve worked really hard to get to this point, on the court and off. You have to work hard to build those relationships and you can’t win on the road with out that.”
The play-in game will be at 4 p.m. (PST) on Tuesday at the Pan American Center at Las Cruces, N.M.
Louisiana Tech 78
San Jose State 64
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Louisiana Tech was without potential WAC player of the year Jo Sneed Saturday night.
Ends up they didn't need her.
With Sneed - who leads the WAC in scoring and ranks second in rebounding in league games - sitting in the stands due to suspension stemming from an on-the-court incident in Thursday's loss to Hawaii, Tech (15-14, 9-7 WAC) ran away with a 78-64 victory over San Jose State at The Events Center.
"I am very proud of our effort," said Tech head coach Chris Long. "I was really concerned about this game anyway with it being the second game of this long Hawaii road trip. Then you take Jo off the court and it added even more adversity. These young kids came out and took care of business, and I couldn't be more pleased."
Early on, it looked like it could be a long night for Tech as San Jose State jumped out to a 7-0 before Long called a 30-second timeout with 16:51 to play to settle his troops. It worked.
Tech responded with a 16-2 run over the next seven minutes and grabbed a 16-9 lead. The run was triggered by 12 straight points by Tech reserves as Sidney Stewart hit a pair of threes, Keshia Warren added a couple of layups and April Williams hit a jumper.
"I thought when I went to the bench tonight, the energy level actually increased," Long said. "This was definitely a team victory tonight."
The Lady Techsters, who finish in a two-way tie for fourth place with Nevada, pushed the advantage out to as many as 14 in the first half (31-17 at the 4:18 mark) before San Jose State closed the gap to 33-25 on a Natalie White jumper at the 1:54 mark.
However, a half-ending 7-2 run highlighted by an off-balance one-handed three-pointer at the buzzer by Nastassja Levingston gave Tech a 40-27 halftime lead.
The Spartans (2-27, 1-15) cut the Tech lead to 10 at 44-34 on a White layup at the 16:32 mark before the Lady Techsters responded with another 16-2 run to push the advantage out to 60-36 with 13:14 to play.
Freshman Adrienne Johnson and sophomore Shanavia Dowdell were instrumental in putting the Spartans away as the duo were too much inside for San Jose State. Johnson, who started in place of Sneed, ended the night with 17 points, seven rebounds, three assists and one steal while Dowdell added 14 points, eight rebounds, four blocks and two steals.
"I thought Shanavia really struggled early," Long said. "I thought she was trying to do too much to compensate for Sneed. Once she settled down, she was her typical self. Adrienne really stepped up for us. She showed what the future holds for her and for this team."
Tech led 78-52 on a layup by Tiawana Pringle with 3:55 to play when Long emptied his bench. San Jose State ended the game on a 12-0 run to make the score respectable.
Stewart scored a career-high 16 points and scored in double figures for the third straight game. Levingston ended in the night with 14 points and held White to only 6-of-17 shooting and 12 points.
"I thought she did a great job of guarding White," Long said. "She is capable of scoring at anytime from anywhere on the court. I thought she really stayed on her and forced her to put the ball on the floor."
White, who entered the game having made 50-of-159 three-pointers on the year, was 0-for-1 from behind the arc in the game.
Hawai?i
New Mexico State
Box Score
Late Game ? Result and recap will be available Sunday morning.