Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
1-0
Cal State Bakersfield
0-1
Bulldogs Knock off Bakersfield
11/14/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 14, 2008
Bakersfield, Calif. - The Fresno State women's basketball team fought off a furious second half Cal-State Bakersfield rally to win its season opener 97-88 on Friday night at the Icardo Center.
"It was a great game for us to play," Fresno State coach Adrian Wiggins said. "I am very impressed with Bakersfield's effort and the players they have. The crowd was great and it makes for the start of a neat rivalry here in the Valley for years to come."
The Bulldogs had four players in double figures led by Bailey Amundsen and Jaleesa Ross' 17 points. Joh-Teena Filipe had 16 points while Hayley Munro had 13 points and Marnique Arnold added 11.
"That is great," Wiggins said on his teams balance scoring. "We need to be that team and have four, five, six people that can do that for us on any given night. That will be a very healthy trend for us."
The Bulldogs out rebounded the Roadrunners 48-29 and Amundsen grabbed a career-best 12 while Filipe had seven. Fresno State shot 50 percent from the field and was 13-23 from the 3-point line.
Fresno State led by as many as 18 points in the first half at 46-28 with four minutes left in the first half. Fresno State led 52-39 at halftime and in the first 10 minutes of the second half Bakersfield took its first lead of the game at 61-59 with 12:06 to play.
That would be the only lead of the game for Bakersfield as Munro tied the game at 61 and Ross hit a 3-pointer to give Fresno State the lead for good at 64-61 with 11:35 to play.
Clinging to a 76-73 lead, Filipe scored nine of the Bulldogs next 13 points to give Fresno State an 89-79 lead with 3:58 to play in the game.
"When they took the lead on us in the second half we fought back," Wiggins said. "We really had a great game environment with an adverse crowd."
The Bulldogs shot 58 percent in the first half (18-31) and was 9-14 from the 3-point line. Amundsen was a perfect 6-for-6 from the field in the first half for 16 points.
Fresno State returns to the floor on November 20 when they host Big West power UC Santa Barbara at 7 p.m. in the Save Mart Center. The game will be heard live on 790 ESPN Radio, the Deuce.
"Join the State - Fresno State"- The Fresno State women's basketball team returns to the floor on November 20 against UCSB. For ticket information click on the tickets link at the top of the page.
