Fresno State Athletics
Saturday, March 20
Fort Worth, TX
3 P.M. PT
Fresno State
17-11,12-6Mountain West
73
vs
87
Rice
-204,122 CUSA
1
2
3
4
F
Rice
25
21
18
23
87
Fresno St.
13
19
20
21
73
Fresno State sees season end in WNIT Round of 16
3/20/2021 8:09:00 PM | Women's Basketball
FORT WORTH, Texas – Fresno State's season came to an end on Saturday evening against Rice in the Round of 16 of the Women's National Invitation Tournament, but not without a fight. The Bulldogs battled back to within five with less than three minutes to play but ran out of steam in the end as the Owls finished on a 9-0 run to win 87-73.
Fresno State finishes the season at 17-11 overall.
Hanna Cavinder led the Bulldogs with 22 points on 10-of-20 shooting. Haley Cavinder nearly matched her sister, scoring 21 points on the day. Wytalla Motta and Yanina Todorova each added 10 points apieice.
Rice was led by 6-foot-9 senior center Nancy Mulkey who posted 28 points and eight rebounds.
How It Happened
Close through the opening minutes, Rice broke the early stalemate with a five-minute 17-4 run that saw the Owls sink three 3-pointers in just over a minute on the back end of the stretch. A jumper from Haley Cavinder in the final seconds of the opening quarter left the Bulldogs' deficit at 25-13 after one. It was the sophomore's first bucket of the game and got her going. The 'Dogs came out of the break scoring the first seven to close within five after a triple from Haley but Rice answered with six straight points. Fresno State only managed to cut its deficit to as low as nine during the remainder of the half.
The Owls led 46-32 at the half despite Haley scoring 12 in the period on 5-of-5 shooting. The 'Dogs played much of the first half without Yanina Todorova after the junior was tagged with two early fouls. After a combined 35 points in yesterday's contest with Missouri, Todorova and Hanna Cavinder were held to just five during the first 20 minutes on Saturday.
After five quick points on fast breaks from the Cavinders to open the third, Rice called a timeout after just 43 seconds had passed. The stoppage worked momentarily as the Owls answered with the next five points to regain their 14-point advantage. The Bulldogs' pace began to change the momentum through the middle of the period behind the play of Hanna as she helped the 'Dogs close to within five through a 9-0 Bulldog run. Rice, though, had answers. The Owls closed the period with an 11-4 stretch during the final four minutes.
Down 15 with 8:45 to play following a 3-pointer from Katelyn Crosthwait, Fresno State refused to go quietly. Three-pointers from Hanna and Todorova pulled the deficit back into single digits. Trading buckets throughout the middle of quarter the Bulldogs forced a pair of miscues and turned them into four points to cut the Owls' advantage to five at 78-73 with 2:22 on the clock. Unable to get a shot to fall after getting a stop, Rice proceeded to milk the clock before Haylee Swayze hit a corner 3 with the shot clock winding down to all but seal the game. That shot started a 9-0 run as Rice closed out the game.
Team Notes
Hanna Cavinder – 22 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals
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Twitter: @FresnoStateWBB
Instagram: fresnostwbb
Fresno State finishes the season at 17-11 overall.
Hanna Cavinder led the Bulldogs with 22 points on 10-of-20 shooting. Haley Cavinder nearly matched her sister, scoring 21 points on the day. Wytalla Motta and Yanina Todorova each added 10 points apieice.
Rice was led by 6-foot-9 senior center Nancy Mulkey who posted 28 points and eight rebounds.
How It Happened
Close through the opening minutes, Rice broke the early stalemate with a five-minute 17-4 run that saw the Owls sink three 3-pointers in just over a minute on the back end of the stretch. A jumper from Haley Cavinder in the final seconds of the opening quarter left the Bulldogs' deficit at 25-13 after one. It was the sophomore's first bucket of the game and got her going. The 'Dogs came out of the break scoring the first seven to close within five after a triple from Haley but Rice answered with six straight points. Fresno State only managed to cut its deficit to as low as nine during the remainder of the half.
The Owls led 46-32 at the half despite Haley scoring 12 in the period on 5-of-5 shooting. The 'Dogs played much of the first half without Yanina Todorova after the junior was tagged with two early fouls. After a combined 35 points in yesterday's contest with Missouri, Todorova and Hanna Cavinder were held to just five during the first 20 minutes on Saturday.
After five quick points on fast breaks from the Cavinders to open the third, Rice called a timeout after just 43 seconds had passed. The stoppage worked momentarily as the Owls answered with the next five points to regain their 14-point advantage. The Bulldogs' pace began to change the momentum through the middle of the period behind the play of Hanna as she helped the 'Dogs close to within five through a 9-0 Bulldog run. Rice, though, had answers. The Owls closed the period with an 11-4 stretch during the final four minutes.
Down 15 with 8:45 to play following a 3-pointer from Katelyn Crosthwait, Fresno State refused to go quietly. Three-pointers from Hanna and Todorova pulled the deficit back into single digits. Trading buckets throughout the middle of quarter the Bulldogs forced a pair of miscues and turned them into four points to cut the Owls' advantage to five at 78-73 with 2:22 on the clock. Unable to get a shot to fall after getting a stop, Rice proceeded to milk the clock before Haylee Swayze hit a corner 3 with the shot clock winding down to all but seal the game. That shot started a 9-0 run as Rice closed out the game.
Team Notes
- Fresno State finished the season 17-11 overall. The 60.7% is the second-highest winning percentage by a Bulldog team during the last five seasons.
- The Bulldogs allowed a team to shoot 50 percent for only the second time this season. They won during the previous occurrence.
- Fresno State finished the game shooting 46.4 percent from the field after shooting 31.6 percent in the first quarter.
- The Bulldogs recorded 19 assists for the second straight game. They previously had dished out at least 19 in a game only four times this year.
- Keely Brown recorded the most blocks by a Bulldog in a game this season with five.
Hanna Cavinder – 22 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals
- Ninth 20-point game of the season.
- Scored 17 of her 22 in the second half.
- Shot 10-of-20 from the field.
- 15th 20-point performance in 28 games this season.
- Scored 19 of her points during a stretch of eight made shots.
- Shot 9-of-16 from the field.
- Ninth game of the year with at least five assists.
Follow us on:
Twitter: @FresnoStateWBB
Instagram: fresnostwbb
Team Stats
Rice
Fresno
FG%
.500
.464
3FG%
.471
.391
FT%
.786
.000
RB
40
34
TO
10
14
STL
8
7
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
22
FGM
10
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Pts
21
FGM
9
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG
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