March 7, 2014
Fresno, Calif. - A 17-to-2 run early in the first half proved to be the turning point in the San Jose State women's basketball team's 107-80 loss to the Fresno State Bulldogs on Friday night in each team's regular season finale.
The result leaves the Spartans as the 10th seed in next week's Reese's Mountain West Championship in Las Vegas. They will face the UNLV Rebels, the seventh seed, at 4:35 p.m. on Monday, March 10th in Thomas and Mack Arena.
The teams reached the first media time out with Fresno State (19-10, 13-5 MW) holding a 12-7 lead, but Bree Farley scored five of her game-high 31 points in a 7-0 run and Alex Sheedy added four more on her way to 22 points and 11 rebounds. When the team's reached the next media timeout, four minutes later the Bulldogs had a 29-9 lead and were never really threatened after that.
"This is disappointing, but it really isn't a huge surprise," head coach Jamie Craighead. "We were on such a high after beating the number one team in the league that it would have been unbelievable if we had been able to keep it going. Plus, they had two seniors playing their last games at home. The odds weren't in our favor."
The Spartans (11-18, 5-13 MW) had five players in double figures led by Ta'Rea Cunnigan's 20 points. Rebecca Woodberry and Britta Hall each had 12 points with Woodberry adding 11 rebounds. Classye James finished with 10 points.
San Jose State was in foul trouble from the start. Riana Byrd, who finished with eight points and seven boards, picked up three fouls in the first half and fouled out with 8:45 to play.
Jasmine Smith fouled out less than 30 seconds later, and the team was forced to play the rest of the game with out their two best interior post players.
"We like playing a physical game," Craighead said. "It think it plays into our hands. But when we get in foul trouble so early, it really takes us away from us getting into the flow we like."
Fresno State had a 49-36 advantage on the boards, which led to a 50-30 difference in points in the paint. Overall the Spartans shot 40 percent (27-of-68) to Fresno State's (36-of-69) 52 percent.
San Jose State vs Fresno State
3/7/14 7 p.m. at Fresno, Calif. (Save Mart Center)
At Fresno, Calif. (Save Mart Center)
FRESNO STATE 107, SAN JOSE STATE 80
SAN JOSE STATE (11-18, 5-13 MW)
Cunnigan, Ta'Rea 6-16 8-8 20; Woodberry, Rebecca 4-9 2-4 12; Hall, Britta
3-10 3-4 12; James, Classye 4-10 2-3 10; Tauala, Jayzyl 3-3 2-3 9; BYRD,
Riana 3-8 2-3 8; Smith, Jasmine 3-6 0-0 6; Baird, Paris 1-3 0-0 2; WEST,
Rachol 0-3 1-2 1. Totals 27-68 20-27 80.
FRESNO STATE (19-10, 13-5 MW)
FARLEY, Bree 8-15 12-12 31; SHEEDY, Alex 7-11 8-10 22; THOMPSON, Taylor 4-10
4-6 14; FURR, Alex 3-6 2-2 9; VANDENBERG, Jacinta 4-6 0-1 8; SMITH, Toni 3-5
1-2 7; FAULK, Moriah 3-5 0-0 6; SAINT-FELIX, Jessy 2-2 0-0 4; AIKENS,
Brittany 1-3 1-2 3; VOLK, Emilie 1-1 0-0 2; DRAPER, Robin 0-5 1-2 1;
HARTVICH, Natascha 0-0 0-0 0; GAZE, Courtney 0-0 0-0 0; FOX, Raven 0-0 0-4
0. Totals 36-69 29-41 107.
San Jose State................ 33 47 - 80
Fresno State.................. 48 59 - 107
3-point goals--San Jose State 6-24 (Hall, Britta 3-8; Woodberry, Rebecca
2-6; Tauala, Jayzyl 1-1; Baird, Paris 0-2; West, Rachol 0-1; James, Classye
0-1; Cunnigan, Ta'Rea 0-5), Fresno State 6-23 (FARLEY, Bree 3-8; THOMPSON,
Taylor 2-6; FURR, Alex 1-3; DRAPER, Robin 0-5; SHEEDY, Alex 0-1). Fouled
out--San Jose State-BYRD, Riana; Smith, Jasmine, Fresno State-None.
Rebounds--San Jose State 36 (Woodberry, Rebecca 10), Fresno State 49
(SHEEDY, Alex 11). Assists--San Jose State 10 (James, Classye 3), Fresno
State 22 (THOMPSON, Taylor 5). Total fouls--San Jose State 27, Fresno State