Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
21-8, 13-5MW
Boise State
19-10, 11-7MW
`Dogs Reverse Role in Overtime Win Over Broncos
3/7/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
By Josh Mitchell
jomitchell@csufresno.edu
GoBulldogs.com
FRESNO, Calif. - Trailing by three on senior night with just seconds remaining, Alex Sheedy came up with a play that all seniors dream of having during their final home game, knocking down one of the biggest shots of their career. Sheedy drained a 3-pointer to send Fresno State into overtime where the team defeated Boise State 55-52 on Friday night at the Save Mart Center.
The senior from Moe, Australia who led all scorers with 22 points to go with eight rebounds, wanted the ball at the end of overtime.
"Alex hit that last shot - I'm just going to tell the story. In the huddle she said, 'give me the ball, No. 30 is shorter than me and I can get my shot off'.It took us three times, but the girls found her and she knocked it down so obviously, leadership, senior night, it's a nice way to go out," head coach Jaime White said.
"I really wanted to get the shot off. I wasn't even thinking. I was zoned in. I was happy I made that shot and I am really happy right now," Sheedy said as she was unable to hold back her excitement.
"My perfect senior night? That was it. That was amazing," Sheedy added.
Despite going down by four early in overtime, the Bulldogs (21-8, 13-5 MW) learned from its previous overtime defeats this season. The team fought its way inside and junior center Toni Smith was the beneficiary, scoring six of her 16 points in just over two minutes in the extra period.
Leading by two with 12 seconds remaining, senior guard Alex Furr knocked down one of two at the line to put the `Dogs up 55-52. With two seconds remaining and Boise State (19-10, 11-7 MW) with the ball out of bounds under its basket, the Broncos found the squad's top 3-pointer shooter Deanna Weaver in the corner. With hands in her face, she put up a shot from the right side the clanged off the opposite side of the rim. It was a reversal of fortune after the `Dogs were defeated in overtime on Feb. 14 in Boise, Idaho.
"Well, a good way to get Boise back I guess," White noted. "We had an overtime game up there and it didn't really come through the way we wanted it to so I was proud of our kids tonight."
The turnovers resulted in 21 points, nine more than the Broncos. Twenty-one of those turnovers were steals as junior guard Shauqunna Collins produced five for the third time this season, and Furr had a season-high five. Sheedy also tied her season high of four and junior forward Moriah Faulk tied a career high with three. The 21 steals matched the output the team produced earlier this season on Jan. 10 against Nevada.
"Twenty-one steals, our kids did a good job with pressure," White noted. "We dug ourselves a hole in the first half. We came out and really bought into the pressure and made it work.
"That pressure bothered them and that pressure has bothered teams all year and that's something that people have to plan for.
BSU's 57.1 field goal percentage through the first half dropped to 38 percent for the game after shooting only 24.1 percent during the final 25 minutes, including a 1-of-6 showing in overtime, due to the defensive clamps that the Bulldogs put on its opponent.
Boise State still managed to shoot nearly six percent better than Fresno State overall, but the defense and timely shooting proved to be the difference as the Bulldogs won only their third game of the season when shooting below 37 percent from the field, and only fifth game when being out-shot.
With the win, Fresno State locked up the No. 3 seed in the Mountain West Basketball Championship and will face the winner of No. 6 Wyoming and No. 11 Air Force on March 10 at 8:30 p.m., PT, at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nev. The game will stream live on the Mountain West Network.
After an emotional senior night ceremony that saw five seniors play on their home court for the final time, including three that have been a part of three-straight conference tournament championship teams, Fresno State struggled out of the gate. The Bulldogs missed 15 of their first 18 shots. On the other side, Boise State hit eight of its first 11 shots as the Broncos held their biggest lead of the game at 11 with 9:35 on the clock.
Fresno State tried to cut into the deficit, getting the BSU's lead down to 20-13, but Yaiza Rodriguez sank a 3 to make it 23-13 with 6:24 to go. The lead hovered between 8-10 points the remainder of the half for Boise State. A free throw from Boise State's Camille Redmon, who finished the night with 14 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks, made it a nine-point Bronco lead heading into the break at 30-21.
With the defensive pressure picking up late in the first half, it carried over into the second, and was only fueled by an 8-2 run within the first two minutes of the half, which saw both Sheedy and Robin Draper knock down 3s.
After Weaver came up with a layup with 13:43 to play to put the Broncos up 38-31, Sheedy produced four points in the next four minutes, and a layup-and-one from redshirt freshman center Bego Faz Davalos tied the game at 40-40 as the `Dogs went on a 9-2 run in just over five minutes.
Senior guard Raven Fox brought Fresno State within one with 3:32 remaining, but Redmon responded a minute later for the Broncos to make it a three-point game.
With 38 seconds remaining, Shauqunna Collins came up with a crucial steal on Rodriguez to give the Bulldogs life. Seven seconds later, Sheedy missed an attempt from 3, but it was Collins, the team's smallest player, that tracked down the rebound. After back-to-back timeouts by Fresno State as the team was searching for the right shot, it came with four seconds remaining as Collins found Sheedy on the left side where the senior drained the tying 3 to send the game to overtime.
It marked the third-straight game in which Fresno State and Boise State have gone to overtime. The nine-point halftime deficit was the largest that the Bulldogs have overcome this season.
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