Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Sacramento State
Bulldogs Fly Past Sacramento State
12/8/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 8, 2009
FRESNO, Calif. - After playing seven of its first eight games on the road, the Fresno State women's basketball team made the most of its return to the Save Mart Center as it beat Sacramento State 105-57 on Tuesday evening in front of a crowd of 2,120.
"It felt wonderful," Fresno State guard Jaleesa Ross said. "We couldn't wait to get back home and back to school. It is great to play in front of our fans. You could just tell the difference in our team and our bench. There was more excitement and it made a difference in the game."
The 105 points scored ties the for the fifth most points scored in school history and it is the first time since 1993 Fresno State has scored over a 100 points in a game, oddly enough that year the Bulldogs also defeated Sacramento State 105-103 in two overtimes on Feb. 10, 1993.
"We want to play well on offense," Fresno State coach Adrian Wiggins said. "Tonight that led to a lot of points and that is a good thing. I was really pleased with our ability to share the basketball. We had different players step up and make 3-point shots for us tonight. That is going to go far for us in the long run for this team."
Fresno State had seven players in double figures led by 14 points from Ross, LaShay Fears and Marnique Arnold. Taja Edwards, Rosie Moult and Hayley Munro each had 11 while Jeanna Furst had 10 points and seven rebounds.
"We played hard and had fun tonight," Wiggins said. "Even if a call didn't go our way we handled it with class and those are things that lead to a championship program and it shows a mature team. I thought they had a great time cheering for their teammates."
Fresno State also tied the school and WAC record they set last year by hitting 16 3-pointers.
The Bulldogs shot 48 percent from the field and held the Hornets to 36 percent shooting. The Bulldogs had 30 assists, a Fresno State home court record, to only 12 turnovers while Sacramento State had 29 turnovers to 10 assists.
"We shared the ball well on offense," Wiggins said. "We had a lot of people score and we had a lot of assists. Those are always good signs. We had a pretty good focus offensively for most of the game and that is something we are working on to be a full 40 minute team."
Edwards and Moult led the Dogs in rebounding with eight. As a team Fresno State out rebounded Sacramento State 48-37.
The Bulldogs went on big runs in the first half to burst out to the big lead. After Sacramento State scored the opening basket, Fresno State went on a 15-0 run to lead 15-2 with 16:19 to play in the game after a layup by Munro.
After the Hornets scored the next four points, the Dogs rattled off a 17-0 run to blow open the lead to 32-6 with 10 minutes left until halftime. The Bulldogs biggest first half lead was 56-19 at halftime.
Fresno State led by as many as 50 points at 105-55 with 1:48 left in the game.
"We Are Your Team"- The Bulldogs return to the court on Saturday when they play host to UNLV at 2 p.m. on Conquer the Mountain Saturday. For ticket information log onto gobulldogs.com.
