Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
San Jose State
Bulldogs Fly Past San Jose State
1/30/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 30, 2010
SAN JOSE, Calif.- - It wasn't a pretty start to the game but the strength of the Fresno State women's basketball team proved to much for San Jose State on Saturday evening at the Events Center as the Bulldogs won, 68-31. The Bulldogs improved to 17-5 and 8-0 in WAC.
"After half the season it is a great time to stop and evaluate where we are at," Fresno State coach Adrian Wiggins said. "It is game time again. We have to play everybody else again. For us the WAC tournament is going to come around and we are going have to play everybody else again. It is really mentally challenging to go through 16 league games."
Fresno State has won nine straight games, tying the school record for consecutive wins in a season. The 8-0 start is also the best start to conference play in school history.
Emma Andrews led Fresno State with 19 points while Jaleesa Ross had 18 points and a team-best seven rebounds. The Bulldogs shot 44 percent from the field and held the Spartans to 28 percent shooting. Andrews was five-for-six from the three line.
"Emma got to the three throw line which is the best shot you can get," Wiggin said. "She got some points and it gave us some confidence. Once that started to snowball we were fine but it took us a little while. Credit San Jose State, they did some things to frustrate us early."
The Fresno State defense used a full court trap all evening that caused San Jose State problems, forcing them into 27 turnovers while Fresno State had only 13 turnovers.
"Our defensive pressure really started generating our offense," Wiggins said. "The reality is that we are getting such a great effort from other teams that we have to play hard to match that and understand that teams are really geared up to play us right now."
In the first 20 minutes of play neither team could find the bottom of the net as the Bulldogs took their first lead of the game at 9-8 with 6:16 left in the first period after two free throws by Andrews. Then with San Jose State lead 13-11 with 5:08 to play in the half, the Bulldogs scored the final 10 points to lead 21-13 at halftime.
The lead grew to 29-13 with 17:21 left in the game following a basket by Hayley Munro. The lead later grew to 52-22 with 8:29 left in the game following a 3-pointer by Rosie Moult. The Bulldogs biggest lead was 38 at two different times in the second half, with the latest score being 65-27 after a layup by Jeanna Furst.
"We Are Your Team" - The `Dogs return home Wednesday, February 10 as they welcome Idaho to the Save Mart Center at 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased through the Save Mart Center Box Office, by calling 559-485-TIXS or through Ticketmaster.com.
