Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
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Women's Hoops Drops 59-53 Decision To UTEP
1/17/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 17, 2004
FRESNO, Calif.- Vaida Zagurskyte and Angie McGee each poured in 15 points during UTEP's 59-53 victory over Fresno State on Saturday afternoon at the Save Mart Center.
The loss was the fourth straight for the Bulldogs, who are now 7-9 overall and 1-5 in WAC play. UTEP improves to 8-6 overall and 3-2 in conference action. Fresno State's current four-game losing skid is the team's first since the end of the 2001-02 campaign.
Fresno State led for the majority of the first half until UTEP scored the final four points of the period to take a 31-27 lead into the break. The Miners never trailed from that point on.
The Bulldogs were led by several underclassmen that not only started but played extended minutes, among them freshman Brittani Green (Dallas, Texas). Green led Fresno State with 13 points in 28 minutes and was 9-12 from the free throw line. Fellow freshmen Jasmine Plummer (Sacramento, Calif.) chipped in with eight points and nine boards while Paige Diggs (Amarillo, Texas) added eight.
Fresno State held the edge in rebounding (38-32) and at the free throw line (23-33 compared to UTEP's 13-21). However, the Miners shot 43.1-percent overall while the Bulldogs finished with a 31.8-percent clip.
The Bulldogs got off to a fast start and held a lead until Ana Valtierra tied the game at 25-25 with 2:45 remaining in the first half. A lay-up by Plummer gave Fresno State its largest lead of the contest at 18-9 with just over 10 minutes to play in the first half.
But UTEP closed out the first period on a 6-2 run to take a 31-27 lead into intermission. That continued into the second half, as the Miners stretched their lead to as many as 11 following a basket from Zagurskyte.
Trailing 45-34, Fresno State went on a 10-0 run to slice the lead to 45-44 after Green knocked down the second of two free throws.
Next up for Fresno State will be road games at Rice (Thursday, Jan. 22) and Tulsa (Saturday, Jan. 24). A third road game at Nevada (Saturday, Jan. 31) closes out the month of January.
