Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
8-6, 1-0WAC
Idaho
3-9, 0-1WAC
Roberson, `Dogs Start WAC Play With 84-75 Victory
1/4/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 4, 2007
Moscow, Idaho - Helped by a huge first half from Andrea Roberson, Fresno State held off a pesky Idaho Vandals team until halftime, and then moved out with a big second half to finish off an 80-71 win. Finishing with five players in double figures, the Bulldogs shot 51.6% on the night to start off conference play with a 1-0 record.
The first half belonged to Roberson for the Bulldogs. Putting together a solid game's effort in the first 20 minutes, Roberson scored 17 points and had 8 rebounds in the opening frame, and kicked off the action with 3 straight offensive putbacks to help put the Bulldogs in the lead at 6-5.
Idaho opened the game up at that point, starting an 8-0 run, but Fresno State again turned to Roberson, stopping the streak with a three-pointer, one of three on the half for the forward. Idaho continued to hold the advantage however, as the Vandals kept up their hot shooting from beyond the arc, ending the half at 50%, hitting 7-14 from long distance.
A Kendra Walker-Roche three cut lead down to 4, and an altered shot by Paige Diggs sparked a fast break, leading to two Brittani Green free throws that further ate into the advantage as the Bulldogs pulled within two at 36-34. At that point, Diggs scored a jumper jumper in the lane for the tie, and a Tierre Wilson jumper following an Idaho turnover gave the Bulldogs their first lead since the opening minutes at 6-5.
The teams played evenly though that point, but Witte hit her second three-pointer of the half to send the Vandals to the break with the lead, 44-41, setting a season high in first half points for both teams.
After the prolific scoring of the first half, both teams started out slowly, but the Vandals eventually worked their way to a six point advantage. Fresno State started a run at the 14:30 mark in the second half, eventually working their way to a 54-51 lead off of an 11-2 run.
Fresno State continued to hold the momentum, capitalizing on more outside shooting from Walker-Roche as well as transition baskets from Green and Wilson as the Bulldogs moved out to a 76-62 lead.
Idaho climbed back into the game late, hitting three consecutive three-pointers to cut the lead to 9 points at 80-71, as they finished the game 11-25 from three point territory.
Fresno State continues their first WAC road trip this weekend, traveling to Logan, Utah to face the Utah State Aggies on Saturday. That game tips off at 6 p.m. Pacific.
