As loyal Bulldog fans, The Collegian staff and I decided to embark on a journey and travel to Reno, Nev. to cover the Western Athletic Conference Tournament in hopes of seeing the women’s team take home another WAC Championship trophy.

As I took my place at the press table I had no clue what to expect, this was the big times and I was going to enjoy every moment.

Directly across the court a sea of red stood on their feet prepared to cheer the Bulldogs on to victory. The Bulldog Beat directly to my left could be heard throughout the whole Lawlor Events Center in Reno.

While most fans prepared themselves for the expected hard-fought game ahead against Louisiana Tech, they had complete confidence that the Bulldogs would come out on top.

Fresno State alumnus Marvin Hughes, who graduated in 1956, has followed the ‘Dogs ever since. Hughes had high hopes for the women’s team.

“I think it is going to be our victory. The girls have played all year for this day. So, I think they will be right and ready to go,” Hughes said.

Some familiar faces also sat behind the Bulldog bench to show their support for the women in the championship round.

“It is a great atmosphere for the WAC, a great atmosphere for college basketball, good games all the way through,” said vice president for student affairs Paul Oliaro. “It is just nice to see our women continuing to win the way they have all year, this is where they wanted to be. I think they are going to win it today.”

As a journalist I am supposed to remain unbiased, but how could I resist with the intense exchange between the Lady Techsters and Bulldogs.

Despite the heartbreaking loss in the final seconds of close, hard-fought game, Coach Adrian Wiggins said, “I feel like we came here, we had a great run and we enjoyed our time off the court and on the floor. Today was a hard fought game; we just really didn’t win in the categories that produce winning. I feel like it was very similar [to previous years]. I thought we played three great tournaments in a row now.”

Louisiana Tech head Coach Teresa Weatherspoon had many accolades for the ‘Dogs.

“The thing they do well is that they get in there and they get second chance opportunities,” Weatherspoon said. “That’s what makes it so difficult for other teams to defend a team like that for 30 seconds.”

Wiggins and his team will continue to look forward and hope to receive a bid into the NCAA Division I Women’s Tournament.
“We needed this to remind us how physical the game could be,” Wiggins said.