NORTH CAROLINA 82, FRESNO STATE 68
Associated Press
On Saturday, the Fresno State women’s basketball team had two things on its mind: win its first NCAA Tournament game in school history and continue the legacy of its five seniors.
To accomplish both feats, the Bulldogs would have to get past No. 5 seed North Carolina in Albuquerque, N.M.
After Saturday’s game, the careers for the five seniors were over and so was the latest shot at a first NCAA Tournament win as the Tar Heels pulled away down the stretch to win 82-68.
The game began with a lot of promise as the Bulldogs started off fast with an early 14-5 lead, but North Carolina fired back taking a four-point lead going into halftime, 40-36. This would be the closest Fresno State would get for the remainder of the contest. A key factor that was significant was the Tar Heels dominance on the boards, out rebounding the Bulldogs 63-49.
The Tar Heels came into the game with a significant height advantage and it made a difference in the Bulldogs’ game plan. Fresno State fired up a school record 50 shots from beyond the arc, but only made 14 on 28-percent shooting.
“It made us look for more outside shots,” coach Adrian Wiggins said in a phone interview. “When we say they’re long, we’re talking 6-foot-6 and 7-foot wingspans. They’re very long players. They’re one of the top field goal percentage teams in the country. They definitely held us to a low percentage tonight. It made a difference in the ball game I think.”
As Wiggins described it, the amount of length the Tar Heels possessed caused the Bulldogs to shoot more outside shots than normal. Fresno State came into the contest leading the country in three-point attempts, and its 50 three-pointers were the second most attempted in a NCAA Tournament game.
Despite the poor shooting efforts by the team, the seniors still led the way with Hayley Munro scoring a team-high 15 points and Jaleesa Ross chipping in with 14 points in their Fresno State finales.
With his senior class playing its final game as Bulldogs, Wiggins talked about what they’ve meant to the program.
“They’ve been the backbone of the program for the last four years,” Wiggins said. “Hopefully, they’ve laid a great foundation for the players to come. We’ve been very proud of our seniors both on and off the court. They’ll finish in May. All of them will have their degrees and they will have been the winningest basketball class here ever. Those two things should say a lot.”
The seniors leave the program with 97 victories to go along with four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.
With the seniors now departed, it starts a new chapter in this program’s history.
One thing that will need to be accomplished is getting that first NCAA Tournament win, and Wiggins explained what the program will need to do to get it.
“We need to improve our seed,” Wiggins said. “I think we need to get a little bigger inside. That might help as far as our interior play and rebounding. I think we’re taking steps in that direction it’s just a matter of being patient and working hard.”
The foundation has been set by the graduating seniors, and Wiggins is looking forward to the opportunity of repeating as Western Athletic Conference Tournament champions.
“We want to keep playing in the NCAA Tournament and win it,” Wiggins said. “Those are goals. At the same time, it’s most important for us to do well in our league. We’ve been proud of the fact that we’ve been WAC champions whether it’s league champion or tournament champion so we want to keep that going. Hopefully, we can just keep building on it next year and come back and compete for another WAC championship.”