Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
8-4
Southern Miss
5-6
Dogs Dismantle Southern Miss
12/19/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 19, 2010
QUEENS, New York - With a visit to Manhattan on the horizon, the Fresno State women's basketball team made sure to make its second act in the St. John's Chartwells Holiday Classic a more memorable one.
The Bulldogs used a strong first-half run and some potent outside shooting to propel them to a big 88-51 win over Southern Mississippi in Sunday's consolation game. The victory quells some of the lingering disappointment from their opening-round loss to UC Santa Barbara and sends them into the Christmas break on a positive note.
Senior guard Jaleesa Ross led all scorers with 28 points. She was 11-for-19 from the floor and hit six 3-pointers. Sophomore forward Rosie Moult added 21 points, and senior forward Hayley Munro added 12 points and four steals.
Fresno State (8-4) led by as many as 39 points and did the bulk of the damage from beyond the 3-point arc. Indeed, the Bulldogs hit 15 3-pointers against the Golden Eagles (5-6) and were 15-for-36 from downtown.
Moult knocked down a long-range jumper to give Fresno State a commanding 58-28 lead with 15:04 to play. Then senior forward Marnique Arnold scored five consecutive Bulldog points and assisted on another bucket to help bump the advantage to 35 points.
Fresno State, which has two games remaining before the start of WAC play, went on a 10-0 run midway through the first half to distance themselves from the Golden Eagles. Moult knocked down her third 3-pointer of the day for a 24-14 lead with 7 minutes left in the half. The Bulldogs then helped themselves on the defensive end and held Southern Mississippi scoreless for nearly five minutes.
The first-half boon continued, as both Ross and Moult repeatedly knocked down long-range jumpers. Moult and Ross combined for 22 of Fresno State's first 27 points, and the Bulldogs outscored Southern Mississippi 29-5 in the final nine minutes of the first half, taking a 40-19 lead into the locker room.
"We Are Your Team!" -- Fresno State returns to the Save Mart Center on Dec. 29 for a nonconference game against USC. Central California Blood Center will be in front of the Save Mart Center between 4:30-8:30 p.m. taking blood donations. Donors will receive free admission and a Bulldog T-shirt. Also, Mutts in Motion will be performing at halftime.
