Matt Weir / Collegian File Photo

Coming into this season, the Fresno State women’s basketball team has stressed the importance of team confidence and character.

Through spending time together, the women’s basketball team has built close friendships with each other, whether they go camping or are having regular practices; the point of these activities is to bond.

By building these close ties, head coach Adrian Wiggins hopes that his team will become a better unit as they prepare for the upcoming season. With an overall record of 27-7 last year, the Bulldogs will continue to work on their play as they look to improve this season.

Although the ‘Dogs at times were dominant against other teams last season, at one point winning all their games from Jan. 1 to March 12, their success didn’t pay off in the NCAA tournament, losing in the first round to No. 4 seeded Baylor.

Despite the disappointing loss, the team is still optimistic as they return five seniors from last year’s squad.

“It will be a challenge as we have good leadership and are returning five seniors who I think are up to the challenge,” Wiggins said. “We also have to become a better defensive team, and individually, be better defending one-on-one.”

Senior guard Jaleesa Ross returns and brings her leadership experience and big-time scoring abilities to the team.

Also, senior forward Hayley Munro comes back to help out; she was second on the team last year in scoring. Wiggins returns for his sixth year as head coach and looks to continue his streak of not having a losing season.

This streak is the longest in the 45-year history of Fresno State’s athletic program, and he is highly respected among his peers. Averaging 23 wins per season, Wiggins has earned the Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year award in two of the past three years.

With an overall record of 122-52 in five-plus seasons under his guidance, coach Wiggins preaches to his squad that there is always room for improvement.

“We want to try to be better and always talk about being better every year, and that means a lot as we had a pretty good season last year,” Wiggins said. “This year we have to start fast and try to play a consistent season.”

“Also the team needs to be better at rebounding as we are not real big, so we need to be very tenacious on the backboard and rebound hard both offensively and defensively,” he added.

In analyzing this year’s team compared to last year, the ‘Dogs still lack size. Their two tallest players are just more than six feet tall. Playing against Boston College last year, the ‘Dogs struggled against the Eagles, especially in the post area, being overpowered physically by taller players.

This year the ‘Dogs hope to establish a better post presence, led by senior center Veronica Wilson, who returns with an improved inside game.

“It will be interesting to have Veronica on our team and to have a post presence, as we have never really had a main post player,” forward Rosie Moult said. “But it will be good to have her as it will give us a different aspect when we play the bigger teams.”

The early season schedule for Fresno State looks to be easy sailing as the ‘Dogs first real test won’t come until they meet Stanford a month into the schedule.

The ‘Dogs look forward to this meeting and will be well prepared to give the Cardinal a run for their money as the ‘Dogs seek their fourth straight WAC regular season championship.