Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
14-11, 7-5WAC
Boise State
19-6, 10-2WAC
Bulldogs Take Down WAC Leader Boise State 69-61
2/17/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 17, 2007
Fresno, Calif. - Tierre Wilson and Erica Henry both finished the game with a double-double as Fresno State defeated Boise State 69-61 on Saturday. Coming off a very short turnaround returning from Hawai'i, Fresno State nevertheless looked very sharp in handing the Broncos only their second loss in league competition. Wilson led the Bulldogs with 16 points, and Henry and Chantella Perera each added 12.
Equally as impressive as the point totals were the rebounding numbers, where Fresno State had a +12 rebounding margin of 53-41, led by 12 each from Wilson and Henry. In addition, 9 of Henry's 12 rebounds were on the offensive end, helping Fresno State to their 16 second chance points on the night. The Bulldogs also finished the night with 23 made free throws, taking advantage of 28 Boise State fouls.
"I felt like we knew what we were trying to do against them, and we executed it very well tonight," said head coach Adrian Wiggins. "In the past few games, we've been properly prepared, but we haven't been executing the plays that we needed too."
Turning around a recent trend, Fresno State was able to grab an early lead at 6-4, and after Boise State moved ahead 9-8, an Andrea Roberson layup gave the Bulldogs a lead that they would never surrender. Starting with the Roberson layup, the Bulldogs scored seven unanswered points, capped by a Wilson three to take a 15-9 lead with 14:23 in the first half.
From there, Fresno State held onto the lead, as Boise State made a run to cut the advantage back to one at 18-17, but Henry converted a three-point play and Kendra Walker-Roche hit a three-pointer to move the lead back up to 7. That was followed by strong offensive rebounding from the Bulldogs, who put together a four-point trip to their end of the floor as Jenny Thigpin missed the back end of two 1-and-1 free throw tries, but recovered the first herself for a foul and a second journey to the line and Henry put back the second as the Bulldogs stopped another run on the way to a nine-point halftime lead at 38-29.
With no team coming out of the half with a strong move, the Bulldogs held their nine-point lead through the first four minutes, but a three from Boise State's Jackie Lee helped spark the first of two Boise State runs at Fresno State in the second half. However, Wilson came through with a jumper to stop the run, and Andrea Roberson's three opened the lead back to nine points. Boise State continued to come close, and would cut the lead all the way to one as Michelle Hessing scored five straight points at the 6:33 mark, part of her 15 on the night.
Coming out of that run Paige Diggs scored four unanswered points, two at the line and two in the paint to help Fresno State regain their lead, and hold it despite the third of Bridgette Reyes' three pointers. Fresno State hit Perera on a backdoor cut though, and after a key block by Roberson the Bulldogs finished the game on the line, where Henry hit two and Perera hit 8 down the stretch to close out the win.
With league play nearing an end, the Bulldogs will get to play most of their remaining games at home. With the exception of the return trip to Boise, the Bulldogs will play the rest of the slate in the Save Mart Center, including two games next week against Louisiana Tech and New Mexico State. First up for the `Dogs are the Lady Techsters, with tipoff coming at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 22.
