In a hard-fought game, the Fresno State women’s basketball team (3-1) defeated Southern Utah University 67-59 on Wednesday night at the Save Mart Center. Junior forward Mia Jacobs, who scored 26 points, and some late-game heroics from sophomore guard Taija Sta. Maria sealed the win.
Head coach Jaime White credited Sta. Maria’s tenacity on the offensive boards during a crucial play in the fourth and the team’s late-game management.
“Taija got a huge rebound to pull the ball back out. I thought that was big, and I’m just really proud of our kids’ composure towards the end,” White said.
What happened?
The Bulldogs opened the first quarter strong on offense thanks to the team’s hot shooting from the three-point line as Sta. Maria, Jacobs and junior guard Mariah Elohim all contributed to the three-point column. As a result, this opened up a bundle of opportunities in the paint for Jacobs as she made her presence known by posting up and getting to the free-throw line, and within a blink of an eye the ‘Dogs were up 21-8.
White said she emphasized getting into the paint and drawing fouls to her team, and it showed as the ‘Dogs scored 10 of their 21 first quarter points in the paint.
“We needed to get the ball inside, we needed to draw some fouls,” White said. “I thought Mia getting to the free throw line was really important. I thought [Southern Utah] was very physical, and I just thought it was important for us to play through that physicality but get a shot in that physicality.”
To close out the first quarter, the Thunderbird’s went on a 7-0 run to bring the score to 21-15, still in favor of the Bulldogs.
In the second quarter, the Bulldogs started off in a 2-3 zone after playing in a man-to-man for the entire first quarter. However, it was no use, as the Thunderbirds made them pay by constantly cutting backdoor for easy layups. Even so, the Bulldogs offense helped keep their distance from the Thunderbirds as Jacobs was scoring in the paint once again and the score bloomed to 30-20.
But time and time again, the Thunderbirds would cut backdoor and play strong defense, shrinking the lead as both teams entered halftime with a score of 36-29.
At halftime, Jacobs led all scorers with 16 of the team’s 36 points. The Bulldogs also seemed to have steered away from scoring in the paint, managing only six paint points in the second quarter, compared to the 10 points in the first.
In the third quarter, the Bulldogs were not themselves on defense as they allowed the Thunderbirds to make six threes in the quarter alone, after constant miscommunication and over-helping on defense. But to finish the quarter, sophomore forward Kylee Fox got the putback to go, plus the foul, and the bench was fired up. Fox went on to drain the free throw and the Bulldogs went into the fourth quarter down 49-47.
To close out the game both teams went at it, but the ‘Dogs would slowly pull away following a crafty Euro step on the baseline from senior guard Saga Ukkonen.
The Thunderbirds went on to intentionally foul in the final minutes of the game to stop the clock, but it was too late, as the Bulldogs would win the game 67-59.
Unlike last game, the Bulldogs played very little zone, and White chalked it up to the Thunderbirds’ ability to play through it, and she had to trust her players to play one-on-one defense to win the game.
“I thought Southern Utah did a great job against our zone and our press, and I thought we were a little tired after playing three games in a row,” White said. “I really felt we had to just stay with them and not allow them to get those threes off, and we still did, but I thought we did a good job.”
What’s Next?
The Bulldogs have a road trip to La Jolla, California, to take on the University of California, San Diego on Nov. 17 at 2 p.m.
