'Dogs drop MW championship game to Wyoming, 59-56

Wednesday, March 10

Las Vegas, NV

8 p.m. PT

Fresno State

16-10,12-6Mountain West

Wyoming

14-9,8-8Mountain West

Wyoming

Fresno St.

Photo by: FRESNO STATE BRAND STRATEGY AND

'Dogs drop MW championship game to Wyoming, 59-56

3/11/2021 1:12:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Josh Mitchell / Assistant Director of Strategic Communications

LAS VEGAS – Turning up the pressure in the fourth quarter, Fresno State rallied back against Wyoming in Wednesday night's Mountain West championship game, but the Bulldogs came up just short, falling 59-56 at the Thomas & Mack Center.

The 'Dogs had four players score in double figures, led by Aly Gamez's 15 points. Haley Cavinder and Hanna Cavinder each added 12 points while Wytalla Motta had 10.

Quinn Weidemann paced the Cowgirls with 14 points.

Key Stat
Fresno State outscored Wyoming in the first (6), third (2) and fourth (3) quarters, shooting 42.3 percent combined in the three periods. The Bulldogs were 1-of-12 (8.3%) in the second and outscored 16-2.

How It Happened
Maddi Utti ignited a fast start for the Bulldogs as the senior opened the game up 3-of-3 with 7 early points. Fresno State led by as much as eight with a minute to play in the first quarter but a Wyoming bucket in the final seconds cut the Bulldogs' lead to 22-16. Wytalla Motta then extended the Bulldogs' lead back to eight in the opening 10 seconds of the second quarter. Fresno State's shots stopped falling from that point, missing its next 11 and turning the ball over four times. Wyoming scored 16 points during the Bulldog drought to take a 32-24 edge at the half.

Haley Cavinder ended the scoreless stretch, sinking a jumper just over a minute into the third. That was followed by a triple from Aly Gamez to pull the 'Dogs within five at 24-29 just over two minutes into the third. After going back down nine, Fresno State answered with 6-0 spurt to pull the deficit to 42-39. But the Cowgirls answered with a 3-pointer late in the shot clock followed by a layup from Grace Ellis. The Bulldogs got the deficit back to six by the end of the third but a 3-pointer from Jaye Johnson early fourth brought the Cowgirls advantage back up to nine.

Fresno State clawed back, pulling to within two with 4:22 to play, but Wyoming answered with a layup and an open 3 in transition from McKinley Bradshaw. Fresno State then forced back-to-back turnovers with two minutes to go that gave the Bulldogs life, the second being a steal that Hanna Cavinder took in for a layup. A minute later Haley hit a jumper to bring the 'Dogs within one at 57-56 with 32 seconds.Following a Utti jumper that rimmed out, Ellis put the Cowgirls back up three with 3.4 seconds on the clock. Out of Fresno State's final timeout, Haley slipped off a screen but her 3-point attempt with the clock winding down was blocked.

Team Notes

Haley Cavinder and Aly Gamez were named to the Mountain West All-Tournament team.
Fresno State was held below 60 points for the first time this season.
The Bulldogs shot 36.5 percent from the field, their third lowest percentage of the year. Fresno State had won just one game during the season when shooting below 40 percent.
Fresno State lost just its second game when outscoring its opponent by double digits (6-2) after holding a 14-3 edge on Wednesday.

Player Notes
Aly Gamez – 15 points, 3 rebounds, 3 steals

First game this season leading Fresno State in scoring.
Scored in double figures in each game during the tournament.

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