The Fresno State women’s basketball team (15-9) lost 61-57 to San Diego State University on Wednesday, Feb. 5, at the Save Mart Center. Even with the joint effort from forwards Mia Jacobs and Kylee Fox, the Bulldogs couldn’t complete the comeback.

Fox logged 15 points on 7-for-13 (53.8%) shooting, three assists and one steal in 38 minutes of action. Jacobs matched Fox in both points and minutes while recording her 15th double-double of the season, adding 12 rebounds.

Jacobs is now on her longest double-double streak of her career with four consecutive games, tying her for third place nationally with Illinois University’s Kendall Bostic in double-doubles.

Former Fresno State men’s basketball Head Coach Justin Hutson was not at the Save Mart Center but is a member of the Aztecs’ coaching staff, working under his wife, Head Coach Stacie Terry-Hutson.

Fresno State women’s Head Coach Jaime White said Hutson is a good coach but also gave credit to Terry-Hutson.

“Justin is a good coach, but his wife is a really good coach,” White said. “Stacie does a great job, and with their fifth-year seniors in numbers 23 and 32, we did everything we could.”

Injury update

After being out of action for almost four months, the game marked sophomore guard Taija Sta. Maria’s return to the court from a lower leg injury. She last played on Nov. 13 against Southern Utah University.

This was the first time Sta. Maria came off the bench at Fresno State, but she still played impactful minutes to close out the game, recording a rebound and a steal in 10 minutes.

White said Sta. Maria’s minutes were all about getting her acclimated to the game again.

“Tonight was about getting the ball in her hands and seeing what she can do and how she feels,” White said. “I thought she did a great job. She did what she always does — taking care of the ball and the offense for us, and she defended well. We’re excited to see her back.”

What happened?

The first quarter started competitively, as both teams had an answer for everything they threw at each other. However, after some sloppy plays on both ends of the ball from the Bulldogs, the Aztecs closed the first quarter with a 14-8 lead.

In the second quarter, the Aztecs played strong defense, forcing the Bulldogs to operate late in the shot clock and take low-percentage shots as a result. Thus, the Aztecs capitalized and began dissecting the Bulldogs’ defense as they continued to find teammates cutting to the basket for easy points under the rim.

Looking for a spark, White subbed in Sta. Maria as she made an immediate impact on defense while the ‘Dogs were in a full-court press.

In the last minutes of the second quarter, the Bulldogs had a bundle of open looks but couldn’t take advantage as they headed into halftime down 31-17.

Through two quarters, the Bulldogs were shooting an inefficient 6-for-24 (25%) from the field and 0-for-7 from 3-point range. On the other hand, the Aztecs were 14-for-26 (53.85%) from the field and 28 of their 31 total first half points came from the paint.

In the third quarter, Jacobs and senior guard Saga Ukkonen were a steady spark for Fresno State as the two combined for 15 of the Bulldogs’ 21 total third-quarter points. But it wasn’t enough as both teams were trading baskets and entered the fourth quarter still trailing 45-38.

In the final quarter,r the Bulldogs struggled to grab rebounds, which allowed the Aztecs to score second-chance points, giving them an early 56-47 lead.

However, after consecutive unanswered points scored by the Bulldogs, the lead was trimmed down to 61-57 after a clutch 3-pointer from Ukkonen. But, time wasn’t on the Bulldogs’ side as they lost the game 61-57.

White noted that if the Bulldogs had a chance to come back, it would have been in the third quarter, but the Aztec’s defense was too much.

“I thought we gave ourselves a chance to come back and we would’ve loved for it to be in the third quarter,” White said. “We did a good job at the beginning of the second half — first half they put us away early. They were really physical and aggressive and I thought we were a little impatient. We weren’t ready for that physicality.”

What’s next?

The Bulldogs are on the road to take on Utah State University on Saturday, Feb. 8, at 1 p.m. as they aim to improve their 6-5 conference record.