Bulldogs ready for Round 2
Victory over Gauchos gives 'Dogs home game with UNLV
Ryan Tubongbanua / The Collegian
It didn’t matter who was on the floor for Fresno State, the defense was suffocating. Bulldog players (from left to right) Faith Probst, Amy Parrish and Andrea Roberson pressure UC-Santa Barbara player Whitney Warren.
Below: Fresno State guard Chantella Perera scored 9 points and had three steals in the Bulldogs’ victory.
Andrew Riggs / The Collegian
|
By Maggie Thach
The Collegian
The feeling of the game could be summed up in one play.
Five minutes into the game, Fresno State’s Brittani Green tipped the ball away. Chantella Perera ran after the loose ball and after she reached it, she fell to the ground. Santa Barbara’s Erin O’Bryan wouldn’t let Perera have it so easily, as she was going for the jump ball.
And that’s when Mirenda Swearengin got in on the action, piling up on both of them. One word to describe the preliminary round of the Women’s National Invitational Tournament game between Fresno State and UC Santa Barbara: dogfight.
That is, until a 19-4 Fresno State run started with about seven minutes in the first half propelled the Bulldogs to take a 41-24 lead into intermission and an eventual 78-59 victory.
The Gauchos made the first move, even taking the lead for a short time but once Fresno State got the lead, they never looked back. But even when Fresno State took a four-point lead, the Gauchos came back three times to keep in at two. Then, the run set in. The troubles kept piling on for UC Santa Barbara as the Gauchos were called for two fouls and committed three turnovers in the final minute.
“Our biggest fears were the pressure and their quick transition game,” said UC Santa Barbara head coach Mark French, whose team finished tied for first in the Big West conference and a 16-14 overall record. “We just struggled with their athletic ability.”
Fresno State’s defense caused 17 UC Santa Barbara turnovers in the first half but that statistic blew up to 27 by the end of the game but what hurt the most for the Gauchos? It led to 34 points for Fresno State.
“That was a huge factor,” said head coach Adrian Wiggins. “I was very pleased with our players’ performance. It was absolutely 100 percent our style.”
Besides a fast-paced style, the second most important factor for the team is sharing the ball. The Bulldogs had 22 assists; compared to the Gauchos’ nine and the players shared the scoring load as well. Tierre Wilson led all scorers with 19, Western Athletic Conference player of the year Mirenda Swearengin had 15 while four different players were a bucket away from scoring in double figures.
“Definitely; we fed off the crowd,” Wilson said. “Playing in the Save Mart, that’s what sparks our game.”
Wiggins, whose record is now 20-1 with games played at the Save Mart Center, and a school-record 23-7 overall couldn’t agree more.
“I believe you get out what you put in. We have definitely put a lot into this building,” Wiggins said. “Put us in a play-off situation and I think people would be amazed at the outcome. I think we could really outdraw any team on this side of the country, honestly.”
The Bulldogs will play host to UNLV in the first round of the WNIT on Sunday at 2 p.m.
The team doesn’t know much about the Rebels but that doesn’t bother Chantella Perera much.
“I have no idea what UNLV is like,” Perera said. “But as long as we put in 100 percent, we’ll have a pretty good run.”
Comment on this story in the News forum >>
|
