Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
13-11, 6-5WAC
Hawai'i
12-12, 6-6WAC
Bulldogs Drop Final Game Of Road Trip At Hawai'i
2/15/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 15, 2007
Honolulu, Hawai'i - Struggling from the line and defending the post, Fresno State fell on the road against Hawai'i on Thursday 79-65. The Rainbow Wahine's Brittany Grice and Cassidy Chretien led Hawai'i with 15 points, and five Wahine players scored in double figures on the night. Chantella Perera scored 18 points and Tierre Wilson was one rebound shy of a double-double, but the Bulldogs could not overcome 53.7% shooting by Hawai'i, along with the Rainbow Wahine's 18-23 night from the line.
Fresno State was close in most of the statistical categories, tying Hawai'i in the boards with 36 apiece, and winning the turnover battle with 17 to the Rainbow Wahine's 18, but In a game that was characterized by short runs by both teams, it was the Wahine that got the fast start in both halves, and made more shots in the end, particularly at the free throw line, where a late charge by the Bulldogs was stymied by strong late free throw shooting from Hawai'i, who finished the game 18-23 from the stripe, which stood in stark contrast to Fresno State's 9-20.
The Rainbow Wahine scored the first six points of the contest on the way to an 8-2 lead. Fresno State slowly battled back however, getting a three from Tierre Wilson, 3 points from Paige Diggs a fast break basket from Perera and a Wilson jumper to tie the game at 12.
Unable to take the lead at that point, Fresno State nevertheless stayed close from that point. Pounding the ball down low to Grice, Hawai'i kept the lead behind her six points through the first 13 minutes, but 9 points from Wilson kept the Bulldogs within striking distance, despite having to sit out the remainder of the half after accumulating two fouls.
Hawai'i moved back out to a 25-20 lead, but a Perera steal cut the lead back to three, and two Diggs free throws pulled Fresno State back to one point behind at 25-24. The Bulldogs stayed behind one until 27-26, but the Rainbows scored four unanswered points to move back up by five, countered only by a solo free throw from Diggs, her eighth point of the half, leading to a 31-27 score at the break.
Tanya Smith opened up the second half with a fast break basket, and the Rainbow Wahine again started quickly, but two threes from Perera and Kendra Walker-Roche helped the Bulldogs pull within 2 at 37-35. Hawai'i then continued the theme of the night, as the Rainbow Wahine pulled away from the Bulldogs with a 9-2 run, keyed by more baskets from Smith. With that run, Hawai'i equaled took their largest lead of the night to that point, moving ahead 46-37 with just over 13 minutes remaining.
Answering back, Fresno State started a run of their own at that point, scoring seven straight points, getting post baskets from Erica Henry and Diggs to go along with a Wilson three to cut the lead back to two once again at 46-44. Continuing the streaky nature of the game, Hawai'i moved back out by six, but Fresno State answered back, finally taking their first lead of the game 56-55 with 6:30 left.
Hawai'i took back the lead on an Amy Kotani three, and converted a three-point play from Smith to move back out to a 61-56 lead. Fresno State kept the advantage at five until Pam Tambini hit a three pointer to give Hawai'i an 8-point lead, and Chretien made the score 70-60 with a runner with 2:18 to go.
Fresno State finishes out the regular season with four out of their last five games at home. That stretch starts this Saturday, when the Bulldogs host WAC leader Boise State at 1 p.m. in the Save Mart Center.
