Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
10-5, 1-0
Utah State
7-8, 1-1
Dogs Win WAC Opener
1/8/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 8, 2011
Logan, UTAH - Heading into the start of the WAC season, there was plenty of talk about the parity within the conference.
There may be some truth to the chatter, but the Fresno State women's basketball team isn't about to surrender its supremacy. Behind a career night from point guard Taylor Thompson and a decisive second-half run, the Bulldogs fended off a strong challenge from Utah State to win their WAC opener 79-69 at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum on Saturday night.
Fresno State (10-5, 1-0 WAC) has now won 19 consecutive WAC games, four shy of the 23-game record set by Louisiana Tech from 2003-05. The Bulldogs, winners of four consecutive regular-season conference titles, travel to Idaho on Monday.
Thompson finished with a career-high 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting. She was 5-for-9 from 3-point range. Hayley Munro came off the bench and added 13 points, while Taja Edwards had 10.
Still, the early defense of their WAC championship didn't come without a fierce challenge. The Aggies, which were tabbed to finish eighth in the WAC coaches preseason poll, responded to Fresno State's every challenge for most of the game. Thompson and Rosie Moult drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Bulldogs a 40-38 lead. But the Aggies (7-8, 1-1) followed with a basket on the other end.
Then Fresno State went on a big 17-4 run.
Thompson connected on a 3-pointer, her fifth of the night, to give the Bulldogs a 51-44 lead. Back-to-back three-point-plays from Hayley Munro and Bree Farley helped extend the advantage to 57-44 with 8:35 left.
Senior guard Jaleesa Ross ran into foul trouble and picked up her fourth personal with 9:55 to play. That didn't stop her from coming through when it mattered. With Utah State mounting a comeback, Ross knocked down a 3-pointer to push Fresno State's lead to 74-63 with 1:48 to go. Ross finished with 12 points in 27 minutes.
Fresno State found itself in comeback mode right out of the gates, falling behind 8-0. Edwards scored the Bulldogs' first bucket with a drive to the hoop with 17:09 to play in the first half.
Fresno State hit only three of its first 15 shots from the floor, but the group helped itself on the defensive end and forced seven turnovers midway through the first half.
Moult, who knocked down a career-high six 3-pointers last week against UC Riverside, hit another long-range jumper to trim the deficit to 16-12 with 9:17 left in the half. Ross responded with a 3 of her own to cut the Utah State lead to 16-15. The Bulldogs kept pushing, and Edwards later scored in the paint to trim the Aggies' advantage to 25-23 with 4:31 to go in the half.
Thompson had the hot hand in the first half. She hit several big buckets early, one that gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the night (26-25) and another one that gave Fresno State a dose of momentum going into the second half. Thompson scored 11 first-half points, including a bank shot from 3-point range to send the Bulldogs into the locker room trailing 34-32 at halftime.
"We Are Your Team!" -- Make sure to head to the Save Mart Center on Jan. 13 when Fresno State takes on rival Louisiana Tech in the WAC "Pack the House" challenge. Help the Bulldogs break the current attendance record of 7,042 and be a part of a nationally televised audience, as the game will be televised on ESPNU. The first 1,500 fans through the doors get a free pompom to help cheer on the team.
