Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
10-7, 3-1
Hawai'i
3-10, 0-4
Perera Leads Bulldogs Past Hawai'i In Overtime, 75-69
1/13/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 13, 2007
Fresno, Calif. - Chantella Perera scored a career high 28 points and Tierre Wilson added a double-double as the Bulldogs defeated the Rainbow Wahine 75-69 in overtime on Saturday. Hawai'i recovered from a 12 point second half deficit to tie the game in regulation, but the Bulldogs outscored the Wahine 12-6 in the extra period to get the win. With the victory, the Bulldogs improve to 10-7 overall and 3-1 in conference play.
Hawai'i scored the first two points in overtime to take their first lead since the first half, but a Perera jumper tied the game, and the Bulldogs made four free throws after getting a stop on a Tierre Wilson steal to move ahead by four points. Following a double-techincal after another miss, Fresno State made six more free throws to seal the win after a strong effort.
"I thought we played good defense all night long," commented head coach Adrian Wiggins. "We moved really well all game, and I'm very proud of our effort as well as the manner in which we played."
He certainly couldn't have been less than pleased with the efforts of Perera and Wilson, who both played the entire 45 minutes. Perera scored a career high 28 points on 8-19 shooting, and Tierre Wilson tallied a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds. The game marked the second time this season both players scored at least 20 points, and both hit big shots during the night.
The biggest was likely from Perera in the closing minutes of regulation. Having seen a 12-point lead cut all the way down to one at 43-42 with 11:37 to play, Fresno State had extended their lead back to 8 thanks to jumpers from Wilson and Paige Diggs at 58-50. However, Hawai'i continued to pound inside, scoring five unanswered points and looking to get more. However, with the shot clock winding down, Perera fired a three from the deep corner and found the bottom of the net, extending the Fresno State lead back to six.
The Wahine out-rebounded Fresno State 50-37 on the night, and that would be the difference in the closing minute in regulation as well, as an offensive rebound by Tanya Smith cut a four-point lead in the closing seconds to two with one of the Wahine's 19 offensive rebounds on the night, and an offensive foul with 9 seconds to play send Iwona Zagrobelna to the line, who made both shots to send the teams into overtime.
"In overtime, I thought that we took advantage of the momentum that we had during the game," said Perera. "I felt like we had control of the game, all the way throughout."
Hawai'i opened the game quickly, taking a 7-2 lead, but Fresno State stepped into full-court and half-court pressure, speeding up the game tempo which helped the Bulldogs move out to an 13 point lead at 28-15 and an 11 point halftime advantage. Perera and Wilson had each already scored in double-figures at the break.
Fresno State continues conference play next week with one game, facing San Jose State on the road next Thurdsay, Jan. 18. That game can be seen nationwide on CSTV, with tipoff coming at 8 p.m. from San Jose. The Bulldogs beat San Jose State this past Thursday in the Save Mart Center 61-36.
