Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
New Mexico State
Women's Basketball Falls To New Mexico State 67-63
2/10/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 10, 2007
Las Cruces, N.M. - Monique Bribiescas' three-pointer with 1:03 remaining proved too much for the Bulldogs to overcome in a road loss at New Mexico State Saturday. Taking a 62-58 lead on that shot, the Aggies held on against the Bulldogs, as Fresno State dropped the game 67-63. Tierre Wilson led the Bulldogs with a double-double, scoring 17 points and grabbing 14 rebounds.
Celilia Russell-Nava hit two free-throws, and Briebiescas closed out the game by hitting one of two foul shots, to close out the win, as Tierre Wilson hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to finish the contest. Fresno State finished the night shooting 14 of 25 from the stripe, which along with the Aggies second-half shooting was the difference. Sherrell Neal scored 18 of her 22 points in the second half, which coupled with the Aggies 5-10 shooting from beyond the arc in the second half helped New Mexico State to a 43.5 shooting percentage on the night.
Fresno State put together a small run to take an early lead, hitting Andrea Roberson on the break who had eight points through the first eight minutes. From there, the Bulldogs got their first three from Chantella Perera, who opened the lead to 16-10. New Mexico State answered back with a run of their own to regain the lead at 17-16.
Junior guard Kendra Walker-Roche entered the game at the 10-minute mark, and hit her first three of the half, which along with two Perera free throws helped the Bulldogs to a 23-19 lead. With New Mexico State sinking into a zone, Walker-Roche continued to hurt the Aggies from long range, closing the half 3-5 from three and helping the Bulldogs start an 8-0 run and take a 31-25 lead into the break.
Coming out of the half, neither team was able to establish a rhythm, though New Mexico State as able to eat into the Fresno State lead, moving behind by two with 15:51 remaining at 35-33.
Both teams remained defensively strong over the next five minutes but New Mexico State finally tied the game at 43 all on a Russell-Nava three pointer, and took the lead on an Anikia Jawara post-up. From there, the two teams stayed even, stretching the game out to 54-54 without either team gaining more than a three-point edge.
New Mexico State grabbed the lead at that point, moving ahead 58-54 and took advantage of trouble at the line from the Bulldogs to keep a 59-56 lead, which Fresno State cut back to one after a Chantella Perera steal and fast break basket.
