Late rally comes up short

Tuesday, November 23

Fresno, CA

6 P.M. PT

Fresno State

2-2,0-0Mountain West

CSUN

2-2,0-0Big West

CSUN

Fresno St.

Late rally comes up short

11/23/2021 11:20:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Josh Mitchell / Assistant Director of Strategic Communications

FRESNO, Calif. – Trailing by as much as 11 points in the fourth quarter to CSUN, Fresno State attempted to rally back with a flurry of 3 pointers in the final minute, but came up short, falling 81-75 on Tuesday night at the Save Mart Center.

Haley Cavinder led the Bulldogs with season highs of 28 points and 14 rebounds. Hanna Cavinder (14), Imani Lacy (11) and Maria Guimaraes (10).

How It Happened
The game started slow with both teams shooting below 30 percent in the quarter and scoring a combined 23 points. Fresno State took an early lead in the second but it quickly disappeared behind back-to-back 3's from CSUN. The Matadors hit three more in the period to help them take a 34-28 leading going into the half.

The 'Dogs kept the game close throughout the third until CSUN sank a pair of 3's in the final minutes to that pushed the visitors' lead up to nine. CSUN extended their advantage to as much as 12 within the first five minutes of the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs made on their first 3-pointer of the night with less than three minutes to play in the game. Three more came from Haley Cavinder in final minute but Fresno State could only get as close as four with nine seconds on the clock.

Team Notes

Fresno State hit a season-high free throw percentage with 84.4 percent.
Fresno State made 27 free throws for the first time since March 3, 2020.

Player Notes

Haley Cavinder hit season highs of 28 points and 14 rebounds.
Haley Cavinder made 11 free throws, tying her career-high.
Haley Cavinder recorded her third double-double in four games.
Hanna Cavinder scored in double figures for the fourth game in a row.
Imani Lacy posted season highs in points (11) and made free throws (7).
Maria Guimaraes recorded a career highs of 10 points and eight rebounds.

Quotes
Jaime White, Fresno State Head Coach
On tonight's late performance...
"I thought we did a good job late, I thought we had a really good urgency late. We did some late-game situations. At the end of the day, we almost closed it. If we would have hit that, we got three shots to close it in a one-possession game, so that was very positive. Moving forward we're going to have to defend better with a little more grit and toughness and keep the ball in front of us, we can't let that ball get behind us and to the rim. I think we ended up rebounding okay, but we didn't shoot great so obviously looking at our shots and how we're getting shots and just really trying to fine tune those things before we go down to a really tough tournament in San Diego."

Up Next
Fresno State hits the road this weekend for the The Dana on Mission Bay Holiday Tournament. The Bulldogs face host San Diego on Friday on 2 p.m. PT, and then play either Nebraska or Drexel on Saturday at 2 p.m. or 4 p.m.

"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 bulldogfoundation.org.

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