Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Utah
Women's Hoops Falls Short Against Utah, 64-57
12/7/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 7, 2002
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah- Fresno State nearly overcame 27-percent first half shooting and a 17-point halftime deficit to upset Utah, but the Utes proved to be too much down the stretch and held on for a 64-57 victory over the Bulldogs at the Huntsman Center on Saturday afternoon.
In what has become a common theme in its three losses, Fresno State was outplayed in the first half but outscored its opponent in the second half to nearly pick up the win. The Bulldogs outscored the Utah 41-36 after halftime, but the Utes knocked down five key second half three-pointers and went 18-24 from the foul line to seal the win.
Utah's Shona Thorburn led all scorers with 27 points, while senior Laura Garcia (Fresno, Calif.) led the Bulldogs with 13 points. Sophomore Aritta Lane (Aiea, Hawaii) recorded 10 points, while senior Omelogo Udeze (Los Angeles, Calif.) pulled down 10 boards in the loss.
"We need to refocus in practice this week in order to not have a first half like this again," said Fresno State head coach Stacy Johnson-Klein. "We scored 16 points in the first half and that's just unacceptable. It's disappointing because we are a better team than we showed this afternoon and that will not happen again. It's just too hard to come from behind playing on the road."
Utah (4-1) raced out to 28-16 halftime lead after clearly dominating the Bulldogs (3- 3) throughout the first half. The Utes, who has now held all five of its opponents this season to under 37-percent shooting, limited Fresno State to just 27-percent from the field (7-26) as the 'Dogs missed nine of their first ten shots to open the contest.
The Utes were also successful in getting to the foul line, shooting at a 7-12 clip from the charity stripe in the first half. After junior Chanie Sutherland (Odessa, Texas) got Fresno State on the board with the game's opening bucket, Utah went on a 10-2 run until Lane ended a seven-minute Fresno State scoring drought with a lay-up. The Bulldogs would go on to trail by as many as 14 in the half, as Utah closed out the period with a 7-2 scoring stretch.
Utah opened the second half by scoring eight of the first ten points before sophomore Cophie Moore (Arlington, Texas) triggered a 12-7 Fresno State run to slice the lead to 43-30 with a jumper at the 15:40 mark. The teams would then trade baskets on their next three possessions until senior Tiffany Simon (Detroit, Mich.) got the 'Dogs within 11 following a three-point play.
Fresno State would continue to apply the press on each ensuing Utah offensive possession, and the Bulldogs were able to slowly chip away at the Utah lead. A Channan High (New Carrollton, Md.) hook shot sandwiched between consecutive three-pointers by Garcia brought the Bulldogs to within 50-47 with just under five minutes remaining. The Utes responded by tacking on three free-throws and a three-pointer by Shona Thorburn, but Garcia knocked down another triple to get Fresno State within six at 56-50 with 2:15 left to play.
Fresno State's Udeze followed with a shot of her own to cut the Utah advantage to 56-52 after a Ute timeout. After both squads failed to score on their next trips down the floor, Thorburn extended the Utah lead to 58-52 with two free-throws.
Garcia answered with a lay-up to make it 58-54, but the Utes added two-free throws to bump their lead to 60-54.
On the next possession, senior Lindsay Logan (Sandy, Utah) converted on a three-point play to bring the 'Dogs within three at 60-57 with 28 seconds remaining. However, Utah's Thorburn iced the game by beating the Fresno State defense down the floor for a lay-up.
The Bulldogs return to the North Gym on Saturday, Dec. 14, when they host San Francisco in a non-conference matchup at 2 p.m
