Fresno State Athletics
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Fresno State Downs San Jose State, 79-63
1/1/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 1, 2005
SAN JOSE- Aritta Lane (21 points, 10 rebounds) and Amy Parrish (19 points, 12 rebounds) notched double-doubles for Fresno State in a 79-63 road victory at San Jose State on Saturday night at the Event Center.The Bulldogs (10-1, 2-0 WAC), who did not record their 10th win last year until Feb. 19, have now won four straight overall and nine consecutive road games, dating back to last season when the team won its final three away from Fresno. In fact, Fresno State's last road loss came in a 45-38 defeat to UTEP in El Paso on Feb. 12, 2004.
The pre-game focus centered on San Jose State (7-4, 1-1 WAC) freshman phenom Amber Jackson, who entered the contest shooting 71-percent from the field and with seven double-doubles to her credit. However, the inside tandem of Lane and Parrish paced the Bulldogs, who held a 49-37 rebounding edge. Jackson ended with 18 points and 12 boards.
Fresno State shot 48.5-percent overall, compared to San Jose State's 38.2-percent. Chantella Perera added 15 points, scoring in double-figures for the first time since a season-opening win over Pepperdine on Nov. 19.
The game could have developed into another rout, if not for Fresno State's 6-18 mark from the free throw line.
Fresno State led throughout the entire first half, shooting 45.5-percent from the field while San Jose State struggled at 29-percent.
The `Dogs threatened to pull away early, only to watch the Spartans string together an 11-4 scoring burst that was capped by a three-pointer from Jessica Kellogg. That triple cut Fresno State's lead to 19-17 with 8:45 remaining, but the Bulldogs quickly struck again.
A 15-6 run to end that spanned the final eight minutes of the period gave Fresno State a 34-23 halftime advantage. Consecutive three-pointers from Perera and Kendra Walker-Roche put the Bulldogs up 29-17 and Perera's off-balance triple with time winding down extended the lead to 34-23.
Fresno State led comfortably for the first 10 minutes of the second half, scoring eight of the first 10 points to begin the period with Lane accounting for six. The Bulldogs extended their lead to as many as 17, going up 48-31 following a put-back from Parrish.
However, San Jose State used a 17-7 scoring run to chip away at the lead and a jumper from Jackson inched SJSU closer at 55-48 with 7:43 remaining.
A three-pointer from Parrish and four quick points from Lane gave the `Dogs some breathing room at 62-48. San Jose State would slice the lead down to 67-59, but two Parrish free throws extended the lead back to double-digits and put the Bulldogs ahead for good.
Fresno State returns home for a critical early conference homestand against SMU (Thursday, Jan. 6) and Louisiana Tech (Saturday, Jan. 8).
FRESNO STATE-SAN JOSE STATE GAME NOTES:
- Fresno State improves to 36-17 all-time against San Jose State and has won five straight since a 66-53 loss back on Jan. 25, 2003.
- Heading into tonight's contest, it had been 11 years since Fresno State last played a game on New Year's Day. The Bulldogs defeated Wyoming 60-56 back on Jan. 1, 1994 in the consolation game of the Oklahoma State Cowgirl Invitational in Stillwater, Okla.
- When Faith Probst misfired on both of her first two free throw attempts early in the game, it snapped a streak of 15 consecutive made free throws.
- Fresno State is now 16-3 against California schools under head coach Stacy Johnson-Klein.
- With her 10-12 shooting performance tonight, Aritta Lane is now 41-60 (68-percent) in eight career appearances against San Jose State.
