The Fresno State women’s basketball team returned home Thursday night with an 82-28 victory over the San Diego Christian Hawks.
“Tonight we had a different opponent than the type of teams we saw out east,” said Fresno State coach Raegan Pebley. “San Diego Christian is a team that will do really well in its conference.”
The Bulldogs (4-3) returned from a trip to Seton Hall, where they went 1-1 in the Seton Hall Tournament. Fresno State won its first game against Liberty, but lost to the hosting Seton Hall Pirates.
“When we went out east, we had the chance to face two Big East teams who I think will finish in the top of the conference,” Pebley said. “I was really happy with the way our team played in the tournament, but we made too many mistakes in the Seton Hall game.”
In last night’s contest, three guards from the bench led the Bulldogs in scoring: junior Alex Furr, sophomore Moriah Faulk and freshman Alex Furr.
Faulk had a team-high 13 points in 15 minutes played. She tallied five rebounds and only missed one 3-pointer (3-4) in the contest. Volk and Furr added 12 points apiece.
“We wanted to try to get as much experience as we can,” Pebley said. “We wanted to get the confidence of our younger players going, especially at home. It was nice to see good contribution from our bench.”
Center Jacinta Vandenberg had eight points and a team-high eight rebounds in the contest. Three of those boards came in the first 4 minutes of the game.
“[Jacinta] just keeps growing more and more into her skin,” Pebley said. She’s maturing as a player, and the improvement from her freshman year until now has everything to do with how much she invested in the offseason.”
“In the weight room, our strength coach has done an incredible job with her. She’s improved her flexibility, which allows her to be a mobile post player.”
Fresno State forward Alex Sheedy scored first in the contest with two free throws. Afterward, the Bulldogs held the Hawks scoreless for 7 ½ minutes, until San Diego Christian guard Chardonnay Shula made a jumper to put her team on the board at 22-2.
San Diego Christian’s Irene Lopez, Hannah Miller and Gabriele Concepcion made the remaining shots for the Hawks, as the Bulldogs went into the break leading 36-9.
Faulk had 13 points and four rebounds, and the team combined for 13 of 33 from the field during the first half.
In the second half, Volk and Furr had 10 points apiece, while Brittany Aikens had a team-high four rebounds. Shooting efficiency for the Bulldogs increased, as they shot 51.6 percent (16 of 31) from the field.
Fresno State will remain at home in December. Its next game will be on Sunday against Santa Clara.
“We told the team that we need to come out aggressively and with some home mojo going,” Pebley said. “We’re home in December a long time, and we needed to get this started right.
“We’re pretty pleased with how this first December game went.”