Bulldogs open with Mustangs
By NATHAN HATHAWAY
The Fresno State women’s basketball team didn’t get a series split with many teams this year.
But the Bulldogs get another shot at one of them today in their first game of the Western Athletic Conference tournament in Reno, Nev.
Fresno State and Southern Methodist, which face off today at 2:30 at the Lawlor Events Center, each won on the other’s home court this year. Each team enters the tournament with a 19-9 record, and each finished 10-8 in the WAC.
“Come WAC time, you’ve already seen them twice,” senior forward Aritta Lane said. “A small advantage to us is that we’ve lost to them once, and we’ve beat them, so we know what they can do, and we know what we can do.”
SMU boasts the one of the best front lines in the WAC, with WAC newcomer of the year Janielle Dodds. The 6-foot-3 Dodds recorded double figures in all but five games this season and ranked fourth in the WAC in scoring (14.6 points per game) and rebounding (8.3 per game).
Fresno State interim coach Adrian Wiggins said the point guard position also presents some challenges for the Bulldogs. SMU’s point guard, junior Kendall Shead, is 5-foot-11, five inches taller than the Bulldogs’ Mirenda Swearengin.
“Their point guard does a good job against us. She’s a very big point guard,” Wiggins said. “She poses some problems for us off the dribble. She shoots over us because we’re a little bit smaller at that position. So we’re going to have to make up for that trying to be quicker.”
Players are quick to point out they cannot afford to overlook SMU, but looming in the tournament semifinal is a likely matchup with three-time defending conference champion Louisiana Tech and WAC player of the year Tasha Crain.
Swearengin is eager to get another shot at Crain, who outscored Swearengin 53-10 in the teams’ head-to-head matchups this season.
“I really want another shot at [Crain] because I want to win, first of all, because they beat us both games (this season),” Swearengin said.
“We’re very excited. We have a lot to prove to people. We have a whole other level of our game that people haven’t seen, and I think we’re ready to show that,” junior all-WAC forward Amy Parrish said. “We’re very excited to show people how well we can really play. I think we’re definitely going to be the team to watch.”
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