Matt Weir / The Collegian
With seconds to tie the ball game the Bulldogs come up two points short
The Fresno State women’s basketball squad hit the road to Reno, Nev. last weekend in search of adding a third straight Western Athletic Conference tournament championship trophy to its mantel.
WAC Defensive Player of the Year award winner Jaleesa Ross and company arrived in Reno with one goal and a big target on their backs, as many competitors saw them as the team to beat.
“If you want to win the WAC, you’ve got to go through Fresno. They’re the class of the league,” Idaho coach Jon Newlee said.
With a battle-tested preseason and an undisputed conference record, the ‘Dogs looked poised to cruise through the four-day tournament and once again return to Fresno with an automatic NCAA Tournament bid.
Quarter-final round Vs. No. 8 Hawaii
The ‘Dogs wasted little time dismantling their conference foe from the Pacific realm, winning handedly 85-53 to advance to the semi-final round.
A slow start put Fresno State in a 12-4 hole just four minutes into play, but the Bulldogs rallied back to enter the locker room with a 49-28 halftime advantage. Fresno State’s red-hot shooting, hitting .621 from the field, aided the 21-point margin.
By game’s end, the ‘Dogs hit 31 of 58 shots headed by Jaleesa Ross’ 15 points. Four Bulldog starters scored in double figures.
Semi-final round Vs. No. 4 Idaho
The Bulldogs looked like a well-oiled machine to start both halves during an 80-66 victory over the Vandals on Friday afternoon.
After a well-deserved day of rest on Thursday, Fresno State shot out of the gates to a 10-0 run to open the first half of play. Idaho scored its first basket at the 15:40 point in the first period via All-Tournament selection Yinka Olorunnife’s layup.
The quick start proved to be pivotal for the ‘Dogs as Idaho scrapped its way back into the contest from then on, once cutting the lead to four. The tenacity of the Vandals’ squad came as no surprise to Wiggins in the third matchup between the two teams in 2010.
“From my perspective we just played a really good Idaho team,” Wiggins said. “They are very, very well coached and they just don’t quit.”
Three starters posted double-doubles, anchored by Jaleesa Ross’ 25 points. Hayley Munro, a junior, was just one rebound shy of joining her teammates in the double-double party.
“Every time I looked around they were sharing the ball and running the floor really hard,” Wiggins said.
The second-half start nearly mirrored the first as Fresno State exploded for a 9-0 run to widen the gap at 51-32 before Vandals’ point guard Natasha Helsham hit two free throws five minutes in. Fresno State managed to keep Idaho in a double-digit deficit the entire final 20 minutes.
Wiggins’ squad did, however, struggle from the field for nearly the entire game, missing 54 shots and shooting a subpar 33 percent from the floor.
“We just had a phenomenal effort,” Wiggins said. “I think when you miss 12 easy layups and still score 80 points, that’s a lot to be excited about.”
Championship game Vs. No. 2 Louisiana Tech
The Lady Techsters entered the game as arguably the only WAC team to give Fresno State trouble during the regular season, narrowly losing on Feb. 24 in overtime 81-78. The Bulldogs entered the game as the WAC’s clear favorite with a school record 19 game winning streak under their belt and one of the conference’s best players in Ross.
Something had to give.
What gave for the second straight night was the Bulldogs’ shooting, and the Lady Techsters took advantage, winning the WAC Tournament championship in a 68-66 thriller.
After Louisiana Tech’s Shanavia Dowdell, the tournament MVP, missed the back end of a 1-and-1 with six seconds left, the ‘Dogs had one chance to either tie the game at 68 or win with a three pointer. Joh-Teena Filipe snagged the rebound, dished the ball to LaShay Fears who raced the length of the court but missed the contested game-tying layup as time expired.
Although Fresno State’s school-record winning streak was halted at 19, the ‘Dogs cling to hope of an NCAA Tournament at-large bid, which will be announced Monday evening.
Louisiana Tech head coach Teresa Weatherspoon believed that “Without a doubt,” the Bulldogs deserved a spot at the NCAA Tournament.
“They have had a tough schedule all year long and they have played well all year long,” Weatherspoon said. “They went through the conference regular season no losses, this is a very good basketball team.”
“We wanted to be the WAC champions and we are,” Wiggins said. “We wanted to win the tournament championship but we fell short on that. We still want to get to the NCAA tournament and we want to win games.”
Ross, an All-Tournament selection, and Filipe agreed that the biggest difference in the loss was under the glass. The Lady Techsters outrebounded Fresno State 49 to 35, thanks in large part to Louisana Tech’s twin towers in the paint, Adrienne Johnson and Dowdell. The Bulldogs also missed numerous opportunities offensively, shooting just over 33 percent for the game.
“I think if you look at the overall basketball game we didn’t win today, obviously,” Wiggins said. “Not only on the scoreboard but I don’t think we won in some of the important categories to us which is defending, rebounding and shot selection.”
In the first half the ‘Dogs fought back from a 10-point deficit to take a 37-36 halftime lead. But shortly after half time, the Lady Techsters went on an 8-0 run to lead 46-37.
Down the stretch, Fresno State and Louisiana Tech went score-for-score in a two-point ball game, but the Lady Techsters were just too much in the end. Now the Bulldogs must sit and wait for Monday afternoon, which will ultimately decide their fate.
“Everyone’s pretty down and upset, but we’ll bounce back,” Ross said. “We’ve got practice coming up and I’m sure we’ll find a way to pick each other up and think about what’s next.”