Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Utah State
Bulldogs Are Two-Time WAC Champions
3/7/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Box Score | WAC Tournament Brackets 
LOGAN, Utah- For the second straight year the Fresno State women's basketball team can call themselves WAC champions. The Bulldogs clinched a share of the conference championship after defeating Utah State 67-54 on Saturday afternoon at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum.
"We have several big goals on the year," Fresno State coach Adrian Wiggins said. "To win our second straight WAC championship is such a great feeling of accomplishment. I am really proud of this team. We want to be a program that can make the NCAA tournament as many times as possible."
The Bulldogs shared the conference championship with Louisiana Tech, who also finished 12-4 in WAC but Fresno State will go into next week's tournament as the No. 1 seed for the second straight year. Nevada earned the third seed in the tournament and since the Bulldogs swept Nevada and Louisiana Tech split with the Wolf Pack, Fresno State received the top seed.
Fresno State is now 21-8 and finished WAC play with a 12-4 mark while Utah State dropped to 15-14 and 9-7 in conference.
Joh-Teena Filipe was one of four players in double figures as she led the Bulldogs with 15 points. Hayley Munro had 13 points while Jaleesa Ross had 11 and LaShay Fears 10. Ross had a game-high eight rebounds. Ross added six assists and one block.
"I was really pleased with our passing and shot selection," Wiggins said. "We shot 54 percent which was one of the highest on the year. I thought we matched it with a great defensive effort. They really worked hard for one another."
Fresno State shot 54 percent from the field and held Utah State to 28 percent shooting.
"I thought we had a great effort with our pressure on the ball starting with Jaleesa," Wiggins said. "We really did a nice job not fouling them on shots."
Fresno State led the entire game. The Bulldogs biggest lead was 24 points at 64-40 with 3:30 to play in the game. The Bulldogs shot 58 percent in the first half and led 28-22 at halftime.
The Bulldogs begin play in the WAC tournament on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. against the winner of the San Jose State/Hawai'i play-in game, which will be played on Tuesday at 5 p.m.
"We have three big games coming up in the WAC tournament," Wiggins said. "We have to take them one at a time, have great focus and play well."
"Join the State - Fresno State" For information on the WAC tournament log onto gobulldogs.com.
