Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
16-11, 8-6
New Mexico State
10-16, 5-9
Late Three From Wilson Lifts Bulldogs To Third Straight Win
2/24/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 24, 2007
Fresno, Calif. - With time expiring and two seconds left on the shot clock, Tierre Wilson's three-pointer from the wing sealed a 63-57 Bulldog win over the New Mexico State Aggies on Saturday. The three points were the last for Wilson, who scored 16 points to tie Chantella Perera for the team lead. Perera finished the game with a double-double, her first of the season.
Down by as many as 15 in the second half, New Mexico State had cut the lead down to as little as one point and were down three in the final minute of the game as Fresno State last scored on a Perera jumper with 3:09 to play. Coming off of a free throw on the opposite end, the Bulldogs had worked the shot clock all the way down to six seconds when Paige Diggs dribbled right and found Wilson on the right side, where she shuffled left and drained the three from the wing with 12 seconds left in the game and 2 remaining on the shot clock. The Aggies were unable to get another shot off, and Fresno State walked away with their third straight conference victory.
"I thought that we made some good adjustments against a very tough zone by New Mexico State," said head coach Adrian Wiggins. "We got a lot of second shots, which was important today."
Perera led the way for the Bulldogs on the glass with 10 rebounds, closing the game with her first double-double of the year along with her 16 points on 3-9 shooting. Overall, the Bulldogs had 16 offensive rebounds to help them to a 41-38 advantage in rebounding, and added 14 assists out on the offensive end, helping to a balanced attack for Fresno State.
The Bulldogs came out quickly to start the game, taking a 15-8 lead on a 7-0 run after the game was tied at 8-8 as Perera started the game with hot shooting, hitting four out of her first five shots. Fresno State continued to put increased ball pressure on New Mexico State, which helped the Bulldogs increase their lead to 15 points with 8:02 left in the first half after back-to-back threes from Wilson and Kendra Walker-Roche. New Mexico State answered with the first of their two impressive runs, and cut the lead down to five points and Krystal Torres hit two threes down the stretch to make the score 34-29 at halftime.
Again, Fresno State came out quickly, opening the second half with an 11-1 run to take their second 15-point lead of the game at 17:31 in the second half. With plenty of time on the clock however, the Aggies worked their way back into the game with their outside shooting, where they finished 7-17 from three for the game. That along with 15 points from Sherell Neal helped keep the game close.
The Bulldogs put together stifiling defense down the stretch, which helped seal the win. After Anikia Jawara converted on a three-point play to cut the lead to one with 4:07 to play, Fresno State held New Mexico State to just one point over the rest of the game, stopping shots by Neal and Cecilia Russel-Nava to preserve the lead until Wilson's late trey.
Fresno State has two more games left in the regular season. They close out their travel schedule with a game at Boise State on Thursday night. After that, they return home to finish the regular season on Senior Day, hosting Utah State at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 3 in the Save Mart Center.
