Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
7-3
Loyola Marymount
8-2
Bulldogs Shoot Way Past LMU
12/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 18, 2008
FRESNO, Calif. - Jaleesa Ross tied a career high of 24 points and the Fresno State women's basketball team won its 14th straight home game as it beat Loyola Marymount 85-59 on Thursday evening at the Save Mart Center. The win ups the Bulldogs record to 7-3 while Loyola Marymount dropped to 8-2.
"I am very proud of our effort tonight," Fresno State coach Adrian Wiggins said. "Our players really played a full basketball game. We had a really good week of practice and I felt like we got better each day and it carried over too tonight. Loyola Marymount is a very good basketball team. We executed well tonight."
The Bulldogs held LMU to 31 percent shooting from the field while forcing them into 19 turnovers. Fresno State shot 44 percent and out rebounded the Lions 48-43. Bailey Amundsen had 13 points and a game-high nine rebounds while Hayley Munro had 12 points, five rebounds and three steals and Taja Edwards had 10 points off the bench.
"It was great to bounce back," Wiggins said. "LMU has beaten us the last two years so to have a convincing win against them was nice. They have beaten a few of our WAC opponents this year."
Trailing 20-18 with 11:32 to play in the first half, the Bulldogs went on a 16-2 run to take a 36-22 lead with 7:35 to play in the half after a layup by Marnique Arnold. LMU cut the Fresno State lead to 39-31 three minutes later but the Bulldogs quickly extended their lead to 48-31 thanks to an Amundsen 3-pointer with nine seconds to play. Fresno State led 48-33 at halftime after Kavita Goss scored a layup with one second remaining.
The Bulldogs opened the second half by extending their lead to 67-40 following an Ashley Walker 3-pointer with 9:52 to play in the game. Fresno State's biggest lead came with the final minute when it had a 31 point lead at 85-54 with 56 seconds to play.
Fresno State returns to the floor on Saturday at 5 p.m. when it plays host to West Virginia of the Big East Conference. Saturday will be only the third time in school history the Bulldogs have played a team from the Big East.
"Join the State - Fresno State!" - The `Dogs host West Virginia on Saturday, December 20 at 5:00 pm in the Save Mart Center. All tickets are only $2. Tickets are on sale now through the Save Mart Center box office, by calling (559) 485-TIXS or online at ticketmaster.com.
Game Notes
- Jaleesa Ross ties career high 24 points.
- Fresno State 46-7 at Save Mart Center under Adrian Wiggins.
- 14 straight home wins. The school record is 16.
- Adrian Wiggins has 55 of his 78 wins at Fresno State by 10 points or more.
-Fresno State has had four players score in double figures in five games this year.
- Jaleesa Ross moved into seventh place on the career record list for 3-pointers made with 120. She needs four to move into sixth place.
- Fresno State has hit 10 3-pointers or more in 20 games dating back to last year.
