Putting an end to a bad streak

The Bulldogs beat Southern Methodist 49-35, putting an end to their eight-game losing streak

By Nathan Hathaway

Stacy Johnson-Klein didn’t want to know what her team was going to do Saturday night.

She didn’t really care.

After the Fresno State women’s basketball team beat Southern Methodist 49-35 that afternoon to snap an eight-game losing streak, Johnson-Klein said her team deserved a little time to enjoy the victory.

“ They need to celebrate,” Johnson-Klein said. “I don’t even want to think about basketball tonight, and I don’t want them to think about basketball.

“ I won’t even watch tape for… 10 hours.”

Wins had been tough to come by for the team lately. Eight straight losses landed the Bulldogs in the basement of the Western Athletic Conference standings, eight games behind first place Louisiana Tech. The win didn’t do much for the Bulldogs (8-13, 2-9 WAC) in the standings—the team is tied with Nevada for last place—but it certainly helped their morale.

“ I think it’s a bit of a confidence boost,” said sophomore forward Faith Probst, who finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds. “It shows that we can play as a team.”

For the second time in as many games, senior center Mindy Clark registered a double-double, scoring 11 points and pulling down 13 rebounds.

“ I’m coming to expect that of her,” Johnson-Klein said, before half-jokingly adding “She’s got to do that every time now.”

For the sixth straight game, Fresno State shot less than 32 percent from the field. This time it was 25 percent.

That had been a thorn in Johnson-Klein’s side for a while. Not this time.

“ I don’t even care today,” Johnson-Klein said.

It also helped that SMU shot just 19.7 percent from the field.

The crowd noise in the Save Mart Center may have helped to break SMU’s concentration.

The game was played in front of an announced crowd of 4,974, the largest crowd for a women’s basketball game this season.

“ That’s a much better environment to play in,” Johnson-Klein said. “For [the team] to play with a lot of emotion breeds a lot of emotion in the crowd.”

The Bulldogs went into halftime with a 25-15 lead, the scoring capped with a breakaway layup by Jasmine Plummer with three seconds to go.

The layup was part of a 16-0 run that spanned 11 and a half minutes over the two halves.

But once SMU started scoring, it was the Mustangs’ Sarah Davis who started to single-handedly dismantle Fresno State. Davis reeled off 14 straight points, including three 3-pointers, in less than three and a half minutes.

“ We didn’t cover her, and she nailed them,” Johnson-Klein said. “She’s a strong player.”

After Davis hit her third 3, Johnson-Klein found the answer for how to stop her—Probst.

Johnson-Klein stuck the 6-foot-1 Australia native on Davis, and Davis didn’t score again.

Probst secured the victory with 6-of-8 free throw shooting in the final two minutes of the game. She shot 8 of 10 from the line overall.

“ I know Faith is going to step up and knock down shots,” Johnson-Klein said.

Johnson-Klein went with her 10th different starting lineup of the season—Chanie Sutherland, Chantella Parera, Cophie Moore, Aritta Lane and Clark.

Johnson-Klein said she is basing the starting lineup on her players’ performance in practices, saying she’s looking for “the right chemistry.”

Lucky for the Bulldogs, like good things, all bad things also must come to an end.

“ We just had to snap that losing streak,” Probst said. “We knew it was going to happen soon, and today was as good a time as any.

“ It feels like we just won a championship to break that streak.”

Something nice to celebrate on a Saturday night.