'Dogs get Tech-nical
Under interim coach Adrian Wiggins, Bulldogs finally beat Lady Techsters
Ryan Tubongbanua / The Collegian
Above: Driving to the basket and converting shots in the paint was a huge factor for Jasmine Plummer and the Bulldogs.
Below: Dribbling the ball is Louisiana Tech's Tasha Williams, selected as the preseason WAC Player of the Year. Williams is guarded by Fresno State's Mirenda Swearengin, who against Williams had 17 points while making all five of her free throw attempts in addition to her suffocating defense.
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By Darrell Copeland
The Collegian
And when the fog cleared and the dust settled—only one team remained standing.
That clichéd ending could be taken literally in Fresno State’s 67-58 upset thriller over four-time defending Western Athletic Conference champion Louisiana Tech, who once again was picked to finish first in the conference this season and had been on a six-game winning streak.
For the first time ever, the Bulldogs of Fresno State (11-4, 3-0) defeated the Lady Techsters of Louisiana Tech (11-4, 3-1), providing never-ending glee to the 3,115 in attendance in addition to the players themselves, including junior Chantella Perera.
“We got a win, and we finally beat Tech,” said a smiling Perera.
However, before the game could even get underway, the fog provided by the fog machine had to clear, so a short session of nap time broke out while the air conditioning did its job and pushed it around.
From the opening tip, Bulldogs point guard Mirenda Swearengin and her teammates took charge.
Swearengin grabbed the ball, sped up the court and nailed a jumper from the right elbow, setting the tone for what was to come.
“We knew in our hearts what we wanted to do,” Perera said. “We didn’t let anything get in the way of that.”
Louisiana Tech, already lagging from a long road trip from Hawaii, which included missing its plane, was unable to match the intensity of the Bulldogs for most of the first half.
Tech’s leading scorers, Tasha Williams and Aarica Ray-Boyd, were held to a combined 19 points, with Ray-Boyd almost inexistent on three of fifteen shooting on her way to fouling out.
For Fresno State in the past, January’s haven’t been too kind, going just 9-17 in the month over the last four seasons. With the victory over Louisiana Tech, the Bulldogs are now 4-0 in this January, with one of the biggest wins in the program’s history.
That is definitely the case for interim coach Adrian Wiggins. Under Wiggins, the Bulldogs are now 18-8, including a blowout victory over PAC-10 member Arizona this season, which Wiggins previously considered his biggest as head coach.
“I think Louisiana Tech is definitely a better win than Arizona,” Wiggins said. “It’s a conference game, they’re a conference champion; that’s our goal obviously as a team, so yeah, I think it’s a huge win for our program.”
It was a win that required all of the stars to be in alignment, as everything went the Bulldogs way for the first time against one of the most elite programs in women’s college basketball history.
For starters, none of the achievement would have been possible without both Swearengin and sophomore guard Tierre Wilson, who both return for the second semester after sitting out the first for academic reasons.
Aside from her stout defense and pinpoint jump shots, Swearengin was automatic from the free throw line, hitting all five of her attempts. Coming into the game, Swearengin was shooting only 44 percent from the line.
Wilson was on key in all aspects—from rebounding to defense, to her assortment of lay-ups, which consisted of one with an impressive under-hook scoop in particular.
Early in the first half, Wilson was the Fresno State offense, scoring 10 straight points on the Bulldogs’ behalf.
The key for the victory was a turning point of which the Bulldogs have never had before against the Lady Techsters.
Down eight points in the second half after Tech’s patented pull-away run, the Bulldogs called a timeout, and when they came back on the court, they made a run of their own, rolling off 12 straight points and never looked back.
“They’re pretty tough, and they’re resilient, and they don’t quit,” Wiggins said of his team’s effort. “They keep playing hard, and sometimes those things mean way more than any type of coaching advice you could give.”
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