Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
16-6 (7-2WAC)
Nevada
13-8 (7-1WAC)
Bulldogs Take Down First Place Wolf Pack
2/6/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 6, 2009
RENO, Nev. - A poised Fresno State women's basketball team withstood a Nevada rally to defeat the first place Wolf Pack 63-60 on Friday night in front of a season-high crowd of 2,661 at the Lawlor Events Center. The win ended Nevada's seven game-winning streak and dropped its record to 13-8 and 7-1 in WAC while the Bulldogs improved to 16-6 and 7-2 in conference.
"I was really impressed with coach Albright and what she has done here," Fresno State coach Adrian Wiggins said. "It's amazing. This was a great environment. It was the best WAC environment we have played in this year. It was huge for us to get a win."
Fresno State shot 45 percent from the field and had four players in double-figures, led by Marnique Arnold's 18 points on eight of 12 shooting from the field. Jaleesa Ross had 15 points while Joh-Teena Filipe and Hayley Munro each had 10 points. Filipe led the Bulldogs in rebounding as she had seven for the third straight game.
Nevada shot 38 percent from the field on 23-of-60 shooting and it out rebounded Fresno State 39-32. Friday was the first time the `Dogs were outrebounded in a game and won.
With 16 seconds left in the game, the Bulldogs led 63-60 after two Munro free throws. Nevada got the ball to half court and called a timeout with under 10 seconds to play. The ball was in Johnna Ward's hands after the timeout. She was able to get the ball to Nevada sharp shooter Dellena Criner but Criner was unable to get a shot off in time as Arnold and Ross caught her in a double team.
"Nevada is playing great," Wiggins said. "This is a big win for us but we have seven more games. We are going to have our hands full. This is a great win for us tonight."
Fresno State led for the majority of the game but the Wolf Pack took the lead for the first time since the 18:05 mark of the first half on a Criner layup with 4:33 to play to give Nevada a 55-54 lead. Criner finished with a game-high 22 points, 20 coming in the second half.
Munro countered with a 3-pointer to give the `Dogs a 57-55 lead with 3:06 to go. Criner then scored the next five points for Nevada to take a 60-57 lead with 1:56 remaining in the game. That would the last time Nevada would score as Ross connected on back-to-back layups to give Fresno State a 61-60 lead with 1:07 to play.
Neither team would score until Munro hit her free throws with 16 seconds remaining,
"They had a lot of intensity and came out hard," Arnold said. "We knew to win the game that we had to match their intensity or even better. We just stuck with it and played hard until the end."
Fresno State led by as many as 15 points in the first half at 33-18 with 2:24 to play in the period.
"Join the State - Fresno State!" - The `Dogs travel to San Jose to battle the Spartans on Sunday, February 8 at 7:00 pm. The game can be heard live on 790 ESPN Radio, the Deuce. The `Dogs return to the Save Mart Center on Friday, February 27 as they host Nevada in the Save Mart Center at 7:00 pm. It's Pink Zone Night and $1 from every ticket sold will be donated to the Central Valley Affiliate for Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Tickets are on sale now through the Save Mart Center box office, by calling (559) 485-TIXS or online at ticketmaster.com.
