Fresno State Athletics
Wednesday, March 4
Las Vegas, Nev.
8 p.m. PT
Fresno State
25-7,16-2Mounta
76
vs
80
#2 seed Boise State
24-9,13-5Mounta
1
2
3
4
OT 1
F
Boise St.
16
22
13
20
9
80
Fresno State
20
14
11
26
5
76
Photo by: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
'Dogs drop emotional championship game to Boise State, 80-76
3/4/2020 11:57:00 PM | Women's Basketball
LAS VEGAS – Trailing by five with 10.4 seconds remaining in overtime, Fresno State's hopes of its first Mountain West Tournament championship looked bleak. But as they've done time and time again this season, the Bulldogs didn't stop fighting on Wednesday night in an 80-76 defeat to Boise State at the Thomas & Mack Center.
A missed 3-point attempt led to an offensive rebound and put back by Hanna Cavinder. Haley Cavinder then came up with a loose ball off the inbound pass and was fouled. She hit the first and intentionally missed the second. Aly Gamez came up with the rebound, turned away from the baseline and tossed in a shot that dropped in with 0.9 seconds on the clock. But the junior's attempt was waived off due to what was called an "audible timeout." Fresno State was out of timeouts and a technical foul was assessed against the Bulldogs.
"I'm not sure," Fresno State head coach Jaime White said when asked after the game who called the timeout. "Still a little bit of a blur to me. We told them in the huddle [that we were out of timeouts], but the game is tight. And I think we made a great play at the end. Hey, we made the first one. We missed the second one. We got the rebound. So we did everything we could do in our power. And then I guess you saw it."
Boise State made 1-of-2 from the line, and then 1-of-2 again after being fouled to take a four-point lead and put the game out of reach.
How It Happened
Behind eight straight points for the Bulldogs to start the game, Haley got the 'Dogs an early lead in the opening quarter. Despite the Broncos knocking down four 3's in the period, Fresno State managed to lead for the final six-plus minutes of the period and hold a 20-16 advantage after one.
The Bulldogs maintained a slim lead through the first two minutes of the second but a quick four-point swing saw the Broncos take their first lead since early in the first. Shortly thereafter, Gamez headed to the bench with her second foul with seven minutes remaining in the half. Like the first, the second flipped with Boise State holding a slim lead through the last six-plus minutes as Jade Loville scored 10 points in the quarter to the help the Broncos to a 38-34 lead at the break.
Just under two minutes into the second half, Haley tied up the game at 39-39 with a 3-pointer from the left corner. The Bulldogs though made just one of their next seven shots. Boise State capitalized and a corner 3 from Braydey Hodgins punctuated a 7-0 run that forced the Bulldogs to call a timeout as Fresno State trailed 49-41 with 3:40 on the clock. The 'Dogs pulled back to within six at the end of the period but Ellie Woerner hit a 3-pointer to open up the fourth for the Broncos.
With under seven minutes on the clock, the Bulldogs twice got their deficit down to four and five, but the Broncos answered with 3-pointers. But with just over six minutes remaining, Fresno State made its push by locking down defensively and getting tough and-1's from Wytalla Motta and Gamez. With 3:01 remaining, the point guard knocked down two more free throws to build the Bulldogs' run up to nine unanswered and give them their first lead since early in the second, 65-64. Gamez would connect on three more from the line but Boise State had answers as they held a three-point lead with 15 ticks remaining. Slipping out to the left wing, Haley drained a 3-pointer with 7.6 on the clock, an attempt that sent the game to overtime.
Neither team was able to muster much offense early in overtime. The Broncos struck first with a layup from Mallory McGwire just before three minutes had passed. Maddi Utti answered at the line but then Loville scored five unanswered to give the Broncos their five-point lead with 11 seconds remaining.
Team Notes
Aly Gamez – 17 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals
Fresno State will await Selection Monday (March 15) to see where it will be playing in the postseason. By winning the Mountain West regular season championship, the Bulldogs have earned the league's automatic bid to the Women's National Invitation Tournament.
"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 call 559-278-7160.
Follow us on:
Twitter: @FresnoStateWBB
Instagram: fresnostwbb
Facebook: FresnoStateAthletics
A missed 3-point attempt led to an offensive rebound and put back by Hanna Cavinder. Haley Cavinder then came up with a loose ball off the inbound pass and was fouled. She hit the first and intentionally missed the second. Aly Gamez came up with the rebound, turned away from the baseline and tossed in a shot that dropped in with 0.9 seconds on the clock. But the junior's attempt was waived off due to what was called an "audible timeout." Fresno State was out of timeouts and a technical foul was assessed against the Bulldogs.
"I'm not sure," Fresno State head coach Jaime White said when asked after the game who called the timeout. "Still a little bit of a blur to me. We told them in the huddle [that we were out of timeouts], but the game is tight. And I think we made a great play at the end. Hey, we made the first one. We missed the second one. We got the rebound. So we did everything we could do in our power. And then I guess you saw it."
Boise State made 1-of-2 from the line, and then 1-of-2 again after being fouled to take a four-point lead and put the game out of reach.
How It Happened
Behind eight straight points for the Bulldogs to start the game, Haley got the 'Dogs an early lead in the opening quarter. Despite the Broncos knocking down four 3's in the period, Fresno State managed to lead for the final six-plus minutes of the period and hold a 20-16 advantage after one.
The Bulldogs maintained a slim lead through the first two minutes of the second but a quick four-point swing saw the Broncos take their first lead since early in the first. Shortly thereafter, Gamez headed to the bench with her second foul with seven minutes remaining in the half. Like the first, the second flipped with Boise State holding a slim lead through the last six-plus minutes as Jade Loville scored 10 points in the quarter to the help the Broncos to a 38-34 lead at the break.
Just under two minutes into the second half, Haley tied up the game at 39-39 with a 3-pointer from the left corner. The Bulldogs though made just one of their next seven shots. Boise State capitalized and a corner 3 from Braydey Hodgins punctuated a 7-0 run that forced the Bulldogs to call a timeout as Fresno State trailed 49-41 with 3:40 on the clock. The 'Dogs pulled back to within six at the end of the period but Ellie Woerner hit a 3-pointer to open up the fourth for the Broncos.
With under seven minutes on the clock, the Bulldogs twice got their deficit down to four and five, but the Broncos answered with 3-pointers. But with just over six minutes remaining, Fresno State made its push by locking down defensively and getting tough and-1's from Wytalla Motta and Gamez. With 3:01 remaining, the point guard knocked down two more free throws to build the Bulldogs' run up to nine unanswered and give them their first lead since early in the second, 65-64. Gamez would connect on three more from the line but Boise State had answers as they held a three-point lead with 15 ticks remaining. Slipping out to the left wing, Haley drained a 3-pointer with 7.6 on the clock, an attempt that sent the game to overtime.
Neither team was able to muster much offense early in overtime. The Broncos struck first with a layup from Mallory McGwire just before three minutes had passed. Maddi Utti answered at the line but then Loville scored five unanswered to give the Broncos their five-point lead with 11 seconds remaining.
Team Notes
- Fresno State moved to 2-3 in Mountain West championship games.
- Wednesday marked the Bulldogs' fifth appearance in the title game eight seasons.
- The loss was Fresno State's first of the season when scoring at least 70 points (21-1).
- The loss was only the Bulldogs' second of the season when collecting 40 rebounds (15-2).
- It was also just second loss of the year when the Bulldogs' starting five outscored their opponents' (24-2).
- Fresno State saw Haley Cavinder, Hanna Cavinder and Maddi Utti each cross the 500-point mark for the season. It is the first time in program history that the Bulldogs have had multiple players score at least 500 points in a season.
Aly Gamez – 17 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals
- Made a season-high nine free throws.
- Collected a team-high nine rebounds. It was the third time this season with nine rebounds against a Mountain West opponent.
- Dished a team-best four assists.
- Eclipsed the 500-point mark for the season (502).
- Eclipsed the 500-point mark for the season (512).
- Eclipsed the 500-point mark for the season (509).
Fresno State will await Selection Monday (March 15) to see where it will be playing in the postseason. By winning the Mountain West regular season championship, the Bulldogs have earned the league's automatic bid to the Women's National Invitation Tournament.
"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 call 559-278-7160.
Follow us on:
Twitter: @FresnoStateWBB
Instagram: fresnostwbb
Facebook: FresnoStateAthletics
Team Stats
BOISE
FS
FG%
.446
.391
3FG%
.435
.235
FT%
.667
.818
RB
39
41
TO
16
13
STL
8
9
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
17
FGM
6
3FGM
4
FTM
1
Pts
17
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
16
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's BasketballF
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