The Fresno State women’s basketball team defeated the University of Nevada, Reno Wolf Pack 71-51 on Feb. 7 at the Save Mart Center, but the game was dedicated to someone special.
The Bulldogs honored Tatum, a 13-year-old girl battling leukemia at Valley Children’s Hospital, on Cancer Awareness Day. Team IMPACT paired Tatum with the program.
“She got to watch one of our practices, and then a couple of weeks after that, we went and did some volunteer work at Valley Children’s Hospital, and Tatum handed out some stuffed animals with us,” said forward Jaisa Gamble.
The entire team wore orange headwear, and the coaching staff wore orange ribbons to honor Tatum’s battle with leukemia. They built an early advantage and never looked back.
Guard Emilia Long led the Bulldogs with 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting. Gamble scored 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting. As a team, the Bulldogs never shot below 57% in a quarter.
“I feel like we play our best when we’re most intense and competitive,” Long said. “Today it was a really competitive game.”
The Bulldogs’ fourth-leading scorer in the win, Morelia Chavez, has stepped up for the team as they have dealt with numerous injuries.
At San Jose State, Chavez put up a season-high 13 points. She followed that performance up with a 10-point afternoon against the Wolf Pack on Saturday.
“Mo [Chavez] could always score, but I think she had a ways to develop defensively,” said Head Coach Ryan McCarthy. “She’s starting to grasp that, and she’s given us great minutes.”
After going on a season-high four-game losing streak — capped off by losing a heartbreaker to the Air Force Academy Falcons — the ‘Dogs rebounded with two consecutive wins. McCarthy chalked the turnaround to the team’s mindset.
“I think we didn’t handle that adversity maturely,” McCarthy said. “We kind of had a come-to-Jesus meeting about the ways they handled that.”
Senior forward Hedda Kohene has been playing with a broken finger, suffered in pregame warmups against the Falcons. She has not let that impact her play, as she’s averaged five points in her last two games.
“I told her ‘I should’ve broke your finger right when you showed up if that’s how you’re going to play,’” McCarthy said.
The Bulldogs now head into the final stretch of the season. With just three home games remaining, the seven seniors are looking to make the most of their remaining time.
“We got about 20 days until our senior night, and then that’s kind of it,” Gamble said. “A lot of gratitude and a lot of love for this group. We’ve come 1 million miles in such a short time span.”
The Bulldogs begin their final games in the Mountain West on Feb. 11 against the Boise State Broncos at the Save Mart Center. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m.
