Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Hawai'i
Bulldogs Win Seventh Straight
1/17/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 17, 2008
FRESNO, Calif. - The Fresno State women's basketball earned its seventh straight win by beating Hawai'i 74-54 on Thursday at the Save Mart Center. The win ups the Bulldogs record to 9-8 and a league best 4-0 in WAC play. Hawai'i dropped to 6-10 and 0-4 in conference.
"We are very pleased to get a home victory tonight, especially in our conference," Fresno State coach Adrian Wiggins said. "Hawaii is always a tough opponent for us. They are very physical and rebound very well. I was very proud of our effort tonight to out rebound them. I thought we did a great job of putting some pressure on the ball defensively in the second half that created a lot of transition buckets for us. Hawaii never let us put the game away. Until the very end when we hit a few three's to stretch the lead open, it was always a pretty tight game."
Jaleesa Ross scored a career high 20 points while grabbing eight rebounds and a career best six steals. Ross shot eight of 16 from the field and played 30 minutes.
"The best thing about it for me is that she is doing it sharing the basketball," Wiggins said on Ross." At the very end she had an offensive rebound and she had a chance to shoot a reverse layup but instead she passed it back out to Tierre for a jump shot that she made. She is a very good teammate. Her teammates appreciate that and keep getting her the ball. She is very confident and very poised."
Tierre Wilson scored in double figures for the 28th straight game as she had 16 points, seven rebounds and a career high eight assists. Erica Henry added 12 points and four rebounds for the Dogs.
Fresno State shot 41 percent from the field and out rebounded Hawai'i 43-35. The Bulldog defense also forced the Rainbow Wahine into 25 turnovers. The Bulldog defense also had a season-high 15 steals.
The Bulldogs never trailed in the game and opened the contest by jumping out to a 10-3 lead following back-to-back 3 pointers by Ross four minutes into the contest. Hawai'i got within one point at two different occasions during the half but the Bulldogs still held a 35-30 lead at the break.
Fresno State scored the first nine points of the second half to take a 46-30 lead after baskets by Henry, Wilson, Taja Edwards and Ross four minutes into the final period. The Rainbow Wahine got within seven at 49-42 with 11:19 left in the game before the Bulldogs went on a run to lead 68-48 with 3:40 to play.
"I felt like we got better as the game went on," Wiggins said. "That is what you want."
Fresno State returns to the floor on Tuesday to host San Jose State at the Save Mart Center. Tip off is at 7 p.m. and the game can be heard live on 790 ESPN Radio, the Deuce.
"Join the State - Fresno State!" - The Fresno State women's basketball team continues WAC play at home in the Save Mart Center against San Jose State Tuesday, January 22 at 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at ticketmaster.com, by phone at (559)485-TIXS, or in person at the Save Mart Center box office.
