The Fresno State women’s basketball team’s undefeated conference streak came to an end Wednesday night to the San Diego State Aztecs.
With seven seconds left in the game, San Diego State senior guard Danesha Long knocked down a jumper to give the Aztecs a one point lead (70-69) and the win over the Bulldogs.
After the shot, the ‘Dogs got the ball into the hands of senior guard Taylor Thompson, and with four seconds remaining she attempted a jump shot but was not able to sink it.
The Bulldogs played well in the first half and were able to capture a seven-point lead going into the locker room (42-35). However, things drastically changed in the second half. At the 15:43 mark, the Aztecs were able to gain their first lead of the second-half after a lay up from Cierra Warren, who had a game-high 24 points.
Prior to that, Bulldog junior forward Alex Sheedy had committed a technical foul. This was a momentum shift because Fresno State had just managed to get going by receiving some second-half points off Moriah Faulk’s two free throws.
“It took [the officials] a long time to get that figured out, and I think that was a little bit of a momentum killer for us,” said Fresno State coach Raegan Pebley.
In the first half, the ‘Dogs shot 14 of 28 (50 percent) from the field but that drastically changed in the second half as they only shot 6 of 27 (22.2 percent). Shots not going in along with San Diego State’s physical post presence hurt Fresno State in the second half.
“I feel like we got good shots in the second half but they just weren’t falling like they were in the first half,” said Thompson. “And when your shots aren’t falling, it’s kind of hard to keep up.”
Thompson played all 40 minutes en route to a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. With 275 steals in her career, she only needs one more to become Fresno State’s all-time leader. The Bulldogs had four players who managed to reach double figures, including Sheedy’s team-high 21 points.
“Every game is an opportunity for us to grow and to get better, and I think this was a good experience for us,” Pebley said. “This conference right now is playing out as we expected, and you’ve just got to stay focused game by game.”
The Bulldogs are now tied in the conference with Colorado State for first with a conference record of 4-1 and an overall record of 10-6. Their next contest will be on Saturday as they travel to New Mexico to face the Lobos.