The Fresno State women’s basketball team received quite the scare from New Mexico State Wednesday, but came away with the win, 66-58, to advance to the semifinals of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament.
Fresno State will play fourth-seeded Idaho today at 2:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the WAC Sports Network.
The Bulldogs had four different players score in double figures against the Aggies. Sophomore and reining WAC Player of the Year Ki-Ki Moore scored a game-high 15 points. Seniors Blakely Goldberg and Veronica Wilson finished with 14 and 10 points, respectively. Freshman Alex Sheedy scored 10, eight of which came in the first half.
Despite the four Bulldogs in double figures, the team still shot poorly from the field, making just 22-of-66 shots, including a below-average 18.9 percent (7-of-37) from 3-point range.
“I am really thankful we pulled through,” said head coach Adrian Wiggins. “I thought we rebounded hard. We played well together but we just didn’t have a good shooting night. We’ll get some shots going in the next day or two and make that a little better.”
Fresno State remained focused on defense, forcing 29 turnovers, 18 of which were steals, that resulted in 38 points. The Aggies, however, were unable to tap into the Bulldog offense, forcing just 14 turnovers that resulted in 16 points.
Junior Rosie Moult led the ‘Dogs on the boards, crashing the glass for a total of eight rebounds, five offensive. Overall, the team grabbed 19 offensive rebounds, resulting in 23 second-chance points.
But it was Goldberg who set the ‘Dogs apart from the Aggies in the second half, scoring all of her 14 points after halftime.
“We were only up by four coming into the second half,” said Goldberg. “So I did have a sense of urgency. I just played hard and put it all together.”
Goldberg’s performance secured the win for Fresno State, which is en route to defend last year’s WAC championship as well as capture the final WAC Tournament crown.