The Fresno State women’s basketball team went 1-1 in the first week of the season with a victo-ry against UC Merced on Friday and a loss to USC on Sunday at the Save Mart Center.
Fresno State 74, UC Merced 50
Fresno State played well offensively in its Friday night matchup against UC Merced. Guard Bree Farley led the Bulldogs with 16 points in the contest and was one rebound away from a double-double. Alex Sheedy (11 points) and Jacinta Vandenberg (10 points) also had double-digit points for the team.
“Our team had some mental mistakes that we would like to fix,” said Fresno State coach Rae-gan Pebley. “But I like that we took care of the ball with 22 assists and 15 turnovers and really got ourselves some second-chance opportunities.”
The Bulldogs’ defense held the Bobcats to 50 points. Shelby Howard, who was not in the start-ing lineup, was the leading scorer for UC Merced with 20 of those points.
“Defensively, we hold ourselves to a very high standard,” Pebley said. “We had moments where we were excellent but other moments where we were passive, and we’ll keep working to refine that.”
Fresno State’s fast-paced gameplay was the focus during this contest, as the Bulldogs got themselves to a hefty 20-3 lead. At halftime, the score was 40-19.
The second half was a closer match, as offense increased for the Bobcats and slowed for the Bulldogs. Howard came off the bench and scored 14 points in the frame alone, while Courtney Danna accompanied with 10 second-half points.
No Fresno State players reached double-digit points in the half. Farley and Vandenberg came close with eight points apiece. However, the first-half blowout was enough to seal the victory for the Bulldogs.
“Some of it was just our rotation,” Pebley said of her team’s second-half defense. “We had some players out there quite a bit in the second half who were just getting experience. They were fighting for some playing time and finding their roles in the team.”
USC 63, Fresno State 54
The second game of the season ”” a shootout with the Women of Troy ”” was close but slipped out of the Bulldogs’ hands.
“USC played aggressively and to its talent level,” Pebley said.
Fresno State continued to be aggressive in its defense, but got in a lot of foul trouble. The team had 23 fouls total in the contest, compared with 17 for USC.
“We need to do a better job at playing aggressive defense without fouling,” Pebley said.
Fresno State mounted a rally to get within one point of USC at the half. With 48 seconds re-maining in the period, down 21-15, Farley hit a 3-point jump shot to cut the deficit to three points. Alex Furr was fouled by USC junior guard Ariya Crook to send the former to the line, where she made her two free throws.
Now down 23-20, USC freshman guard Courtney Jaco made a layup to bring the lead back to three, but Farley made a long-range jumper to send the Bulldogs into the half trailing only 23-22.
In the second period, the Bulldogs struggled defensively, as USC led them in steals (7-6) and total rebounds (24-16). Fresno State’s Taylor Thompson and Sheedy led the team with seven points apiece.
The Bulldogs kept up with the Women of Troy during the half, as they changed the lead three times. However, with 10 1/2 minutes remaining in the game, USC’s Cassie Harberts made a free throw to take the final lead for her team.
Fresno State would remain within 10 points of USC, but the Women of Troy were able to in-crease their lead and won the match by nine points: 63-54.
The Bulldogs will now hit the road for nearly a month, beginning with a trip to Cal State Fullerton on Monday. The next home game will be on Dec. 5, when they host San Diego Christian Col-lege.