Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
7-7, 3-0MW
Nevada
1-13, 0-3MW
Bulldogs Top Nevada in Reno, 67-59
1/6/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
By Josh Mitchell
jomitchell@csufresno.edu
GoBulldogs.com
RENO, Nev. - Behind 36 points in the paint, the Fresno State women's basketball team defeated Nevada 67-59 on Wednesday night at the Lawlor Events Center. The win gave the Bulldogs' their longest winning streak of the season at three.
Senior forward Toni Smith led the 'Dogs in scoring with 16 points to go with nine rebounds, while redshirt sophomore center Bego Faz Davalos recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Stephanie Schmid led Nevada in scoring with 18 points on 7-of-16 shooting from the field.
After missing their opening three shots of the game, the Bulldogs (7-7, 3-0 MW) began pounding the ball inside as they hit seven of their next eight field goals to take a 17-7 lead with 2:58 on the clock in the first quarter. Nevada (1-13, 0-3 MW) began to come back, but the 'Dogs finished the quarter with a steal by Moriah Faulk and fast break layup by Brittany Aikens in the final seconds to take a 23-16 advantage.
Despite missing their first three shots, Fresno State connected on 10 of its final 13 field goals to end the first quarter.
The 'Dogs built their lead up to 11 within the opening minute of the second quarter, but the Wolf Pack used a 7-0 run midway through the period to cut its deficit to four. Freshman forward Breanne Knishka answered the Nevada spurt with a 3-pointer. Aikens then followed that up with a trey of her own as the Bulldogs pushed their advantage back up to 10 at 37-27 with 4:29 to play in the half.
With the lead hovering around 10 in the final minutes, Schmid knocked down a pair of free throws with two seconds on the clock to cut the 'Dogs lead to under 10 at the half. Fresno State took a 40-31 edge into the break after shooting 48.6 percent in the opening 20 minutes.
Teige Zeller scored the first points of the second half for Nevada, but Fresno State put together a 9-0 run in less than three minutes that saw senior guard Alex Furr cap off with 3-pointer from the right wing as the 'Dogs took their largest lead of the night at 51-35. With a large lead in hand, the Bulldogs' shooting went cold and Nevada put together a 9-0 run of their own which was ignited by 3 from Schmid.
The run forced the 'Dogs to call a timeout with 3:39 remaining in the third quarter as they clung to a 51-44 lead. Out of the timeout, junior forward Kendra Martin put the Bulldogs back up 10 with the team's fifth 3-pointer of the game.
Fresno State took an eight-point lead into the final quarter, but the Wolf Pack pulled to within three less than two-and-a-half minutes in as the home team opened the fourth on a 7-2 run.
The Bulldogs though pushed their lead back up to seven by going inside to Smith and Faz Davalos. With under five minutes remaining and the shot clock winding down, Faulk knocked down a 3 to increase the 'Dogs lead to 65-55 with 4:21 on the left.
Nevada wouldn't go quietly though, cutting its deficit to six with 3:17 to go, but the Bulldogs took more than a minute off the clock on their next possession as they grabbed four offensive rebounds before Martin scored on a layup with 1:50 remaining to give Fresno State a 67-59 advantage.
The Bulldogs will return home on Saturday as they look to improve to 4-0 in conference play when they host Boise State at 2 p.m., PT at the Save Mart Center. Boise State is 2-1 in MW play after defeating Utah State 84-78 on Wednesday night.
"Be Bold" - The official home of the Fresno State women's basketball team is 790ESPN "The Deuce".
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