Fresno State women’s basketball now 1-10 in conference play after losing to Air Force

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Fresno State Bulldog, Amaya West, shoots a mid-range shot over an Air Force player. (Blake Wolf/The Collegian)

By Alexis Bruno, Reporter

The Bulldogs are struggling to turn the season around, now holding a seven-game losing streak.

The Fresno State women’s basketball team lost against Air Force, 59-74, on Feb. 2 at the Save Mart Center.

“Obviously, we are not happy with the outcome and the production that we’ve gotten, but our kids are trying hard,” said Fresno State Head Coach Jaime White.

The ‘Dogs fell 3-points short in their last matchup with the Falcons, and in the rematch, Fresno State lost in a 15-point deficit.

Starting off the game, Fresno State won the jump ball and Amaya West started the ‘Dogs off with a layup. Air Force responded with an 8-2 run, putting them on top around the five-minute mark.

The ‘Dogs consistently kept within close range, responding offensively. With a 3-point field goal by Amiee Book, she tied the game, 14-14, with just under 2 minutes left of the first quarter.

In the final seconds, Fresno State took the lead, 18-17, going into the second quarter.

After, the ‘Dogs were quick to put points up on the board with a 3 by Imani Lacy, giving them a 21-17 lead.

In back-and-forth runs, Yanina Todorova shot from the 3 to keep Fresno State up. She went 2-for-2 from behind the arc, giving Fresno State an 8-point advantage.

Air Force stayed planted on the paint and responded back with three drives that brought them back into close range.

Going into halftime the ‘Dogs led the Falcons 35-33.

Coming out the half, Fresno State used efficient passing and put together a field goal drive by Lacy.

Air Force kept its poise with a successful 3 to tie the game up, 39-39, early in the third quarter.

With great defense, the Falcons went up 43-39 with back-to-back drives, forcing the Bulldogs to call a timeout.

After two made free throws by Sydney Dethman, the ‘Dogs trailed by two points with just over 6 minutes in the quarter.

The Falcons continued to scheme up an efficient offense to build up their points, but Fresno State didn’t stay far behind.

Dethman shot a 3-point jumper to bring the Bulldogs to a two point margin, 44-46.

With just over two-minutes in the half, Air Force shot successful free throws from the line along with a field goal drive to stay up.

The Bulldogs trailed by 5 points ending the third quarter, 48-53.

Both teams started the final quarter aggressively with a made layup by Air Force, but West responded with 2-points.

Air Force maintained momentum offensively going on a 10 point lead, 50-60 with six minutes left.

Once again, the Falcons forced the ‘Dogs to take a timeout after a second-chance layup by Falcon Nikki McDonald, taking her team up by 12.

Fresno State continued to fall in deficit, not able to make big stops defensively to get back in the game.

“The best thing about a bad game is another game and we can correct some things we saw,” White said.

Fresno State will compete against Boise State at the Save Mart Center on Feb. 3.