Bulldogs cruise to quarterfinal win
The women's team advances to the semifinals with a victory over SMU
By NATHAN HATHAWAY
The last time the Fresno State women’s basketball team reached
20 wins under a coach not named Stacy Johnson-Klein was in 1989-90.
The Bulldogs have done it again.
Fourth-seeded Fresno State earned an 18-point win over Southern
Methodist in the quarterfinals of the WAC tournament to advance
to a semifinal matchup against No. 1 seed Louisiana Tech. Fresno
State is 0-10 all-time against Louisiana Tech. Photo
by Joseph Hollak |
Fresno State notched win No. 20 on Wednesday, the second time in three
seasons they’ve reached the mark, with a 71-53 win over Southern
Methodist in the quarterfinals of the Western Athletic Conference tournament
in Reno, Nev.
Credit interim head coach Adrian Wiggins with seven of the Bulldogs’
20 wins — the other 13 came under Stacy Johnson-Klein, the recently
fired coach. Wednesday marked the sixth time in the program’s 34-year
history the Bulldogs reached the 20-win plateau.
The win puts Fresno State into a semifinal matchup with top seed Louisiana
Tech today at noon. The Techsters beat ninth-seeded Boise State 81-68
Wednesday.
Fresno State took control of Wednesday’s game from the outset and
never trailed, building a 24-point lead late in the second half. Fresno
State outmuscled the taller Mustangs inside, outscoring SMU 32-16 in the
paint and winning the rebounding battle 43-36. The Bulldogs also limited
the Mustangs to 30 percent shooting (27 percent from 3-point range) while
making 43 percent of their shots and 41 percent from behind the arc.
Point guard Mirenda Swearengin led the Bulldogs with 19 points, Chantella
Perera had 14 and Amy Parrish had scored 13 and pulled down a game-best
nine rebounds.
Katy Cobb led SMU with 17 points, and all-WAC center Janielle Dodds had
10 points.
In Louisiana Tech, Fresno State will face a three-time defending conference
champion led by WAC player of the year Tasha Crain. The Bulldogs have
never beaten the Techsters. Tech’s two wins over the Bulldogs this
year bumped its record against the Bulldogs to 10-0.
By their standards, the Techsters had a down year. They lost four WAC
games this year after only losing two since joining the conference in
2001.
“The reality is that (our team) is capable of winning more games,”
Wiggins said in a news release.
“We are 0-10 against Louisiana Tech, but we will beat them one
day. I don't know if it will be Friday, but one day it will happen.
“Tech shot the ball well (against Boise State). If they do that
again, we will have a tough time. They are such a great rebounding team
off the miss and we will have to limit their second chance opportunities."
Swearengin said she was excited to play Louisiana Tech because she wanted
to face Crain again.
After Johnson-Klein said before the season began that Swearengin was the
best point guard in the conference, Crain dismantled Swearengin in the
teams’ two games, outscoring the Bulldogs’ guard 53-10 and
dishing out 15 assists to Swearengin’s eight.
“I want another shot at her because I want to win, first of all,
because they beat us both games (this season),” Swearengin said
Monday. “I just want to really, since coach (Johnson-Klein) is gone,
show my thing this time.”
The winner of today’s game will advance to the conference championship,
where they will play the winner of today’s late game between San
Jose State and Rice. The Bulldogs were 0-2 against second-seeded Rice
and 2-0 against the sixth-seeded Spartans.
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