Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
4-3, 0-0
California
7-1, 0-0
Fresno State Falls To No. 16 Cal 77-62
12/7/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 7, 2006
Berkeley, Calif. - Chantella Perera scored 19 points to lead Fresno State, and Tierre Wilson added 18 but the Bulldogs had trouble finding the rest of their offense as the team fell to 4-3 with a 77-62 loss against No. 16 California on Thursday. The Bulldogs will return to action on Saturday, when the Bulldogs finish their current road trip with a 7 p.m. game against Santa Clara.
Both teams stayed close early as the Bulldogs gave away the opening tip to Cal and the team stayed even early courtesy of great outside shooting from the Bulldogs. Perera hit two threes in the first six minutes as the Bulldogs opened up a 10-8 lead. Cal battled back with strong post play from two of their sophomore stars as Devanei Hampton scored six points and Alexis Gray-Lawson had five to lead the Golden Bears back to a 14-13 lead overcoming another three from Fresno State's Wilson.
Cal took control of the game at that point, rattling off a 15-4 run as the Bulldogs struggled to exert a strong low-post presence defensively against Cal's trio of sophomore stars in Gray-Lawson, Hampton and Ashley Walker along with 6-5 freshman center Rama N'diaye. In addition, the Bulldogs began to go cold, hitting only one field goal during that stretch, lasting over seven minutes.
The Bulldogs battled back towards the end of the half, hitting two from the line and then scoring another two on a fast break from Chantella Perera to cut the lead to seven. Cal responded again, as Keanna Levy hit her second three of the half and Walker finished off a three-point play as the Golden Bears posted their largest lead of the game of 13 and held on to that margin for a 39-26 advantage at the half.
The second half led to more of the same, as the Bulldogs continued to stay cold on the night and the Golden Bears would extend their lead, getting all the way to a 20-point lead. The Bulldogs began a late charge, cutting the lead back to nine after working the ball around on the outside and utilizing the drive as Tierre Wilson hit a leaner and was fouled for the three-point play. However, the `Dogs were unable to pull any closer as the team fell to 4-3 on the year.
Fresno State continues their stay in the Bay Area Saturday night, as the Bulldogs face Santa Clara at 7 p.m, a change from the originally scheduled time of 2 p.m. That game can be heard locally on 1430 ESPN Radio.
