Fresno State forward Wytalla Motta helped the Bulldogs complete a season sweep over the San Jose State Spartans with back-to-back highlight performances.

After recording a career-high in points Thursday night with a 78-57 victory, she came back as the second top scorer in Saturday’s win with a 87-74 victory at the Save Mart Center. In their second matchup with the Bulldogs, the Spartans still struggled offensively.

Motta helped the Bulldogs claim victory with her shots on the floor as the second top scorer of the game with 19 points. Motta shot 9-13 on the floor and 1-1 on free throws. 

In the final minute of the second quarter, Motta scored her 13th point of the game after grabbing an offensive rebound and scoring the second-chance layup, hyping up the crowd right before halftime as she was also fouled for an and-one. As she celebrated and made the free-throw, Motta said she didn’t notice the fans’ excitement because she was locked into the game.

“I’ve been working hard with my coaches, they make everything easy for me so nothing different from the last game,” Motta said. 

This is Motta’s last year with the team. She said, with it being her last year, she has nothing to lose and is trying whatever she can to make it a worthwhile experience.

“I’ve been working hard and so just showing out my work and everything, what I’ve been doing in practice and everything,” Motta said. 

Fresno State head coach Jaime White praised outstanding athletes like Motta with her 19 point game and eight rebounds. 

After the Bulldogs beat the Spartans, the Spartans still struggled offensively in their second matchup with the Bulldogs Saturday.

Hanna started the game strong for Fresno State, scoring a basket at the 3-point line. 

During the beginning of the game, there were times when the zone defense left Hanna open, leading the Bulldogs to have some open shots in the corner. White said her players were successful at reading the court and capitalizing on gaps in the Spartan’s defense. 

“I think just taking what the defense gives me and making sure everything is in pressure on defense as well,” Hanna said

Hanna went 6-13 on the floor, shot 2-5 beyond the arc and 10-11 for free throws. 

Fresno State athlete Amiee Book also came through with her shots beyond the arc. With just 15 seconds into the last quarter of the game, Book scored her final shot on the 3-point line, exciting the fans and her teammates. 

“Amiee Book [had] really nice 3-pointers,” White said.

White explained how the Spartans came back to play this game with a different strategy than what they played with on Thursday. 

“The person that lost they change everything,” White said. 

The Bulldogs were well aware of this and adjusted as if they were playing a completely new team. 

White also praised the defense and how it went hand-in-hand with their offensive play of the game. The Bulldog defense stood out, helping them secure more baskets in the fourth quarter. 

White explained how the halftime score was similar to the halftime score with the Spartans on Thursday, so during halftime things needed to change. 

“We definitely had to play better in the second half,” stated White. 

The Bulldogs came back in the second half, scoring 48 points to their total score of 87. 

“I thought we weren’t getting involved maybe in the quarter and just getting a few more drives, maybe attacking the basket a little bit more,” White said. 

Once the Bulldog defense started playing aggressively and started getting in touches, the Spartans started failing in offense to allow more rebounds. By the fourth quarter, the ‘Dogs took control of the lead, following the blowout victory against the Spartans.

The top scorers of the game were Haley Cavinder with 24 points, Wytalla Motta with 19 points and Hanna Cavinder with 17 points. Maria Guimaraes also scored 6 points in limited action.

The Bulldogs only had a day in between these two games, making the turnaround time very limited.

Thursday’s game was postponed from the original date Jan. 3, 2022 due to health related reasons. The Cavinder twins explained how these postponements have affected the team and what feelings they faced finding out they were being canceled. 

“I think it was very unfortunate. Like we got shut down but I think it made us realize how much we missed it,” Haley said, “I think everyone is super hyped up and just to play these two games because we’ve been off so long.”

Hannah noted how unfortunate these postponements have been, especially because she wanted to play in Wyoming, but said they are keeping their focus on the sport in every practice. 

“Games are going to drop and we can’t control that, but we can control how hard we’re practicing and preparing ourselves, and I think they’ll show in March,” Hannah stated. 

The Bulldogs travel to Colorado next for the conference game against Air Force Wednesday, Jan.19, with tipoff set for 2 p.m.