After being crowned the Hoops for the Cure Tournament champions on Saturday in their 88-67 win over Southern Methodist, the women’s basketball team is still looking to improve as they face stiff competition next week, including two nationally ranked opponents.
With two wins in the tournament, head coach Adrian Wiggins talked about the impact of being crowned the tournament champions.
“To win their classic was a good confidence boost, but we still have tough games this month,” Wiggins said. “So it’s a good chance for us to get better.”
The next two games will give the ‘Dogs their chance as they play the toughest part yet, with No. 6 Stanford and No. 18 Oklahoma both paying visits to the Fresno State on Sunday and Thursday, respectively.
The Bulldogs will need to utilize its home court advantage as they welcome Stanford and Oklahoma to the Save Mart Center where Fresno State is 89-26 in nine seasons, including 71-14 under Wiggins, who is currently in his seventh season as the face of the program.
The defending Western Athletic Conference champions will look to get the upset against both Stanford and Oklahoma behind leading scorers, sophomore Ki-Ki Moore and junior Rosie Moult. Moore has provided that scoring punch for the ‘Dogs as she has averaged 19.3 points per game and became Fresno State’s go-to-scorer. Moult is right behind Moore in the scoring department as she has averaged 14.5 points per game.
Moore was named WAC Women’s Basketball Player of the Week after her performance last week where she averaged 24 points, 5.5 rebounds and four assists per game over the weekend. Moore was also named Most Valuable Player of the Hoops for the Cure tournament after her 28-point performance in the championship game.
With Moore and Moult providing a one-two scoring punch for Fresno State, it has allowed the ‘Dogs to not miss a beat in scoring average as they have averaged 78 points a game on the season.
Although Moore and Moult have stepped their games up this season, Fresno State is still going to need some of its younger Bulldogs to contribute to be able to come out of this current stretch of games successful.
“It’s still early so we still need to figure out the roles of our team,” Wiggins said. “We have a lot of learning to do about who can make shots from where on the floor and who can cover whom. Right now, it’s about finding that identity for our team.”
And with Moore and Moult already making an impact on the floor, the ‘Dogs will need some of other players to get wins during this tough stretch of upcoming games.
Two of the players that have contributed more this season are guard Blakely Goldberg, who is averaging 9.2 points and 5.5 rebounds per game in her first year in the starting lineup and center Veronica Wilson, who has provided a scoring presence off the bench, scoring 8.5 points per game.
Despite an impressive start, Wiggins knows his young team still has much to experience early in the season.
“We’re playing against some big, fast and strong athletes, so we’re going to have to play on a high level,” said Wiggins. “These names will really help us feel like we belong [with the best] and we’re confident.”
