Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
22-9
New Mexico
20-11
`Dogs Drop MW Semifinal to New Mexico, 64-53
3/12/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
By Josh Mitchell
jomitchell@csufresno.edu
GoBulldogs.com
LAS VEGAS - No. 3 seed Fresno State was nearly able to overcome its lowest first half output of the season, cutting its deficit to one halfway through the second half, but a 9-0 run by the No. 2 seed New Mexico all but sealed the game as the Bulldogs lost 64-53 on Wednesday night at the Thomas & Mack Center. The loss was the first for the `Dogs in a tournament championship in five years.
Senior forward Alex Sheedy ended the game with 14 points and seven rebounds before fouling out. Senior guard Raven Fox added 11 points. New Mexico's Anteisha Brown led all scorers with 18 points to go with seven rebounds.
The Bulldogs will now have to wait and see if they will receive a bid to the WNIT.
Fresno State started off struggling to find a basket, with its only points during the early going coming from the line. At the 12-minute mark, Sheedy was called for an offensive foul, her second foul of the half and forced to go the bench. The Lobos were able to push their lead up to seven with the senior leader on the bench.
At the 10:04 mark, Fox scored the Bulldogs' first basket of the game after a 6-plus minute drought. It was the first field goal for Fresno State after starting the game 0-of-10.
With 8:22 on the clock, New Mexico's Brea Mitchell dropped a three from the right elbow that gave the Lobos a 13-6 advantage.
With two fouls, but looking for answers on the offensive end, the Bulldogs inserted Sheedy back in to the lineup. The `Dogs went on to score on their next three field goals
Fresno State trailed 26-18 at the half. It was the fewest points scored by the Bulldogs since facing Colorado State on Jan. 31.
Back-to-back layups from Toni Smith and Sheedy opened the second half as New Mexico was forced to call a timeout just over a minute into the half as the `Dogs cut the deficit to 26-22.
More than five minutes into the half, the Lobos then put together a 6-0 run to build its lead back up to 37-28 with 13:06 to go.
At 12:35 on the clock, Fox came up with a steal at midcourt and took it in for a layup and Sheedy connected on a pair at the line. After Sheedy grabbed a rebound on the ensuing possession, the senior forced her way inside and laid it in to make it 37-34 with 11:45 left in the game.
Sheedy followed with two more at the charity stripe to set a new career high from the line. The 8-0 run for the `Dogs was ended as Mitchell sank a 3-pointer with the shot clock expiring with 8:25 left in the game.
Fox answered with jumper, but the Lobos went on 9-0 as the Bulldogs went on a three-plus minute scoring drought. During the run, Owens dropped a 3 with 6 minutes remaining that made it a 45-38 Lobo lead. Brown then followed with four as the lead ballooned up to 49-38 with 5:05 to go.
Furr knocked down a 3-pointer 10 seconds later to cut the deficit to eight, but the Lobos responded with an 8-3 run to push its lead up to 13 at 57-44 with 1:21 to go before icing the game at the line.
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