Women continue winning ways at Save Mart Center

By NATHAN HATHAWAY

The Fresno State women’s basketball team is on a winning streak.

That’s something the Bulldogs haven’t been able to say since early January, two games into the Western Athletic Conference schedule.

Since opening the season 10-1, Fresno State has been unable to string together wins.Until now.

Fresno State’s 71-50 spanking of Boise State on Saturday at the Save Mart Center gave the Bulldogs their third win in a row and put them above .500 in conference games (7-6) for the first time since Jan 8. The win also improved the Bulldogs’ overall record to 15-7 and bumped them up into fifth place in the WAC.

“The girls are really sharing the ball wel,” interim coach Adrian Wiggins said. “Our shooting percentage is up. We’re hitting almost 50 percent from 3-point range as of late. We’re taking great shots.

“We’ve been getting better over the last few weeks, and I think tonight is the fruit of that.”

And the Bulldogs are doing it at home.

Before Thursday’s game against Texas-El Paso, Fresno State was riding a five-game home losing streak that included an 0-4 record against WAC opponents.

“[The Save Mart Center] is a beautiful facility; it deserves a good basketball team, and we had not given it that,” Wiggins said. “And so I’m very proud we’ve given it a good basketball team these past two nights.”

Fresno State used a 20-5 run and held Boise State (8-14, 3-10 WAC) without a field goal for more than six and a half minutes midway through the first half to record the Bulldogs third straight win.

Chantella Perera led all scorers with 19 points. Aritta Lane and Tierre Wilson scored 13 points apiece and combined to pull down 13 rebounds.

Michelle Hessing led Boise State with 14 points and Tasha Harris scored 12.

Fresno Stat e outrebounded tthe Broncos 40-25 and shot 45 percent from the field, compared to 36 percent for Boise State

The Bulldogs next take their winning streak on the road to face Tulsa on Thursday and Rice on Saturday.

Both teams beat the Bulldogs at the Save Mart Center earlier this year.