'Dogs roll past Aggies, 76-64

Saturday, December 7

Fresno, CA

7:00 PM PT

Fresno State

7-3 (2-0MW)

Utah State

3-6 (0-2MW)

Utah State

Fresno State

Photo by: Kiel Maddox

'Dogs roll past Aggies, 76-64

12/7/2019 9:15:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery (Kiel Maddox)

By: Fresno State Athletic Communications

FRESNO, Calif. – The Fresno State women's basketball team defeated Utah State in wire-to-wire fashion Saturday night at the Save Mart Center, 76-64. The win lifted the Bulldogs to 2-0 in conference play for the second-straight season.

Fresno State (7-3, 2-0 MW) outscored Utah State (3-6, 0-2 MW) by 13 points in the first quarter, which powered them through the rest of the game. Despite the large lead to start the game, Utah State battled throughout the next three quarters, and were never discouraged as the Bulldogs' largest lead of 16 in the first quarter remained throughout.

The story of the game were Utah State's turnovers and the Bulldogs capitalizing off of them. The Aggies turned the ball over a season-high 26 times, and Fresno State scored 35 points off their turnovers – nearly half of its 76 points.

Maddi Utti led all scorers with 20 points, her fourth such game this season, while Hanna Cavinder scored 19 and Haley Cavinder totaled 16.

How It Happened
The Bulldogs got off to a fast start to open the game, forcing Utah State to call an early timeout following a 9-0 run that put Fresno State in front 11-2. Their hot start continued through the remainder of the period as Fresno State shot better than 60 percent from the field. Hanna Cavinder and Maddi Utti chipped in seven each while Wytalla Motta accounted for five in the first to help give Fresno State a 27-14 lead to close out the first quarter.

Fresno State kept capitalizing on turnovers as Hanna's 11th point came on a breakaway steal and score. It was the ninth turnover of the night by the Aggies, which helped grow the Bulldogs' lead to 37-23. At that point in the contest, the 'Dogs had capitalized on all but one turnover in the game, growing their advantage on points off turnovers to 16-2. The Aggies, who were shooting well from three, knocked home their third three of the game to close their deficit to 11 points before the next time out, 37-26, as they would quietly start getting within striking distance with 4:59 left in the half.

The Aggies closed the last two-and-half minutes of the first half on an 11-0 run to get the game within five, 44-39, going into the half. They trailed at one point by 16 points.

Although the 3-point line wasn't working well for Fresno State, Haley Cavinder hit back-to-back 3-pointers to start the second half in between an Aggies bucket that moved the game to 50-41. Motta was the spark for the Bulldogs that grew the lead back to double-digits as both buckets were assisted by Hanna. The lead remained in double figures for the remainder of the quarter. Utti hit the 20-point milestone to close the period with back-to-back makes, one off an offensive board and put back. Jordanna Porter grew the lead to 14 before Utah State closed the quarter with four points to draw back within 10.

Haley opened the fourth quarter the same way she opened the third quarter, with a 3-point bucket. The freshman point guard got to the line and made one of two on the Bulldogs' next trip down the court to give Fresno State a 66-52 lead. The Aggies converted a 3-point basket to pull within 11, 66-55, with 8:52 left. The two teams traded two-point swings over the next seven minutes, which started with USU narrowing its deficit to single digits at the 6:45 mark, the first time since 6:55 in the third quarter.

Team Notes

The Bulldogs improved to 7-1 in Mountain West home openers.
Fresno State improved to 7-0 this season when scoring more than 70 points.
Fresno State improved in its all-time series versus Utah State to 24-4.
The Bulldogs are now 13-1 at home against the Aggies.
Fresno State moved to 5-1 when Maddi Utti, Haley Cavinder and Hanna Cavinder are the team's top three scorers.

Player Notes
Maddi Utti - 20 points, 7 rebounds, 5 steals

Fourth 20-point game of the season, second this week, and third in the last four games.
Fifth game with with at least seven rebounds.
Season-high five steals.

Hanna Cavinder - 19 points, 7 assists, 4 steals

10th double-figure scoring game.
Second-most assists in a game this season.
Third game with at least four steals.

Haley Cavinder - 16 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists

Seventh double-figure scoring game.

Quotes
Head Coach Jaime White
On forcing turnovers…
"I think we were quicker and we are going to be quicker especially one through four with Maddi (Utti) on the floor so we have to take advantage of that. It really comes from defense and consistent defense because if your defense is consistent then you are going to get turnovers you are going to get that spark on the other end."

On the game…
"I thought we passed the ball pretty well. I thought our best offense was transition in the first half. Second half I thought Hanna (Cavinder) did a good job, she got a couple steals and made some plays down the stretch. We could have shot the 3 a little better. We weren't completely on fire there, but we can be so that's a good sign."

"Fresno State Athletics: The Pride of the Valley" – The Bulldog Foundation creates championship experiences for Fresno State student-athletes as they strive for excellence in the classroom, in competition, and in life. To become a BDF member, please visit www.bulldogfoundation.org.