Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Baylor
Fresno State Falls to Baylor, 69-55
3/20/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
March 20, 2010
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP)--Brittney Griner's presence helped keep Fresno State away from the basket and sent Baylor into the second round of the NCAA women's tournament.
Griner had 18 points and eight rebounds in her NCAA tournament debut, leading fourth-seeded Baylor to a 69-55 victory over No. 13 Fresno State in a first-round game Saturday night.
Griner had a low-key night. She blocked only two shots and had none of the dunks that made her an Internet sensation as a high schooler.
But she still controlled the game with her presence inside, helping Baylor (24-9) hold the Bulldogs to 34 percent shooting.
Hayley Munro and Emma Andrews each scored 13 points to lead Fresno State (27-7). The Bulldogs ended the season was WAC regular season champions and won their first 19 games in 2010.
Griner found some rhythm on the offensive end early in the second half by making consecutive jumpers and scoring on a post move as part of an 8-0 run that gave Baylor a 43-32 lead. Taja Edwards ended a nearly six-minute scoring drought for Fresno State with a basket underneath that cut the Bears' lead to nine with 11 minutes remaining.
The Bulldogs rarely challenged Griner. When they did penetrate into the lane, they usually passed the ball out just as quickly instead of trying to shoot over the 6-foot-8 center.
But when those long shots weren't falling, Fresno State had little chance against the Bears. The Bulldogs shot 10 for 34 from 3-point range.
Rosie Moult banked in a 3-pointer for Fresno State just before the buzzer to cut Baylor's lead to 31-25 at the break.
POSTGAME NOTES AND QUOTES
HEAD COACH Adrian Wiggins: "First I would like to give credit to Baylor. They have a class program and a world-class coaching staff. And they have great, great players. With that being said, I am very, very proud of our program here at Fresno State. We tried hard, we fought hard. They way we look at it we were down six at half and lost by eight in the second half. That is basically a couple of buckets in each half, and we have to figure out how to make up those baskets. We had a great rebounding effort. We had great fan support. It was awesome to see our crowd out there today. It makes you very proud to be part of this program right now."
JUNIOR GUARD Jaleesa Ross: On if tonight's loss makes it more urgent to win a game in the NCAA Tournament next year
"Every year. Every year I want it more and more. We just got to start training like it starting [in] a couple weeks."
On what to take away from the season
"[I'm] probably going to be a little upset about the game today, but we definitely will celebrate what we've done this year, and the community will do a great job of letting us know how well did. They always do."
On playing in front of family
"It's awesome. They love Fresno State, they love the team, they love the coaching staff. They feel just as much a part of the family as we do, so it's awesome to have them here."
On the Fresno State fans at the game
"It just made us feel like we actually did something this season. When that buzzer sounded, of course we were upset, but seeing the fans, the band, all that support we've had all year long, it made it feel a lot better."
BAYLOR HEAD COACH KIM MULKEY: "When you shoot as many three as they did tonight, there are going to be long rebounds. I thought they got a lot of them. It wasn't anything that we hadn't talked about. It wasn't anything that we didn't go over in the scouting report. It's just NCAA basketball time. They hang around for a reason. They hang around because they're pretty good."
BULLDOG NOTES:
- The game was the final for three Bulldog seniors Joh-Teena Filipe, Brittny Jones and LaShay Fears.
- Fresno State made its third consecutive NCAA appearance and for the second time in the three years, the Dogs opened the tournament against Baylor.
- Several hundred Bulldog fans made the trip to the Haas Pavilion, along with the Fresno State cheer squad and pep band.
- Fresno State finished the season with a school-record 27 victories, an unprecedented 16-0 WAC regular season record, and set a school record with 19-consecutive wins.
- Emma Andrews' first-half 3-pointer extended the Bulldogs' streak with at least one made 3-pointer to 98 games in a streak that dates back to 2007.
- Jaleesa Ross had one 3-pointer to increase her Fresno State career-record to 287.
- Baylor shot 14 more free throws than the Dogs 19-5. Baylor had just one more blocked shot and one more rebound than the Dogs.
"We Are Your Team" - For more information on Fresno State women's basketball follow gobulldogs.com.
