Jan. 14, 2015
Fresno, Calif. - The San José State women's basketball continued to struggle from the floor, hitting just 25 percent for the game and fell 58-46 to the Fresno State Bulldogs in Mountain West action on Wednesday night in the Save Mart Center.
The Spartans (8-8, 2-3 MW) were led by 16 points from senior Ta'Rea Cunnigan, who is six from tying Karen Mason for the program's career scoring record. Mason (1977-81) finished her career with 1,760 points. Cunnigan is also 13 points from tying the school record of 1,767 points set by Ricky Berry (1986-88).
Fresno State, which never trailed in the game, jumped out to an early 9-2 lead, but after a Nyre Harris jumper and Cunnigan 3-pointer the Spartans to pull within a bucket with 14:25 to go in the half, but from there the team went ice cold.
Fresno State outscored the Spartans 14-1 over the next seven minutes. By the time the Spartans hit another basket, a Rachol West 3-pointer with 3:27 to go before intermission, the score was 27-11 and the teams went to the half with the Bulldogs up 31-15.
The Spartans hit just 21 percent in the first 20 minutes, 15 points is their lowest scoring half of the season and only two of the five starters, Cunnigan and Harris, scored.
Fresno State ran a patient offense, passing the ball around the perimeter until they could work it inside. They scored 20 of their 31 points in the paint and were able to control the boards 28-19. Among those 28 were 10 offensive boards.
The second half saw the Spartans trim the lead to 10 points on two occasions, but the Spartans could never whittle it down to single digits and fell by 12.
Riana Byrd scored four points and pulled down seven rebounds to move into fourth place on the women's career rebounding list. Byrd has 701 career boards.
Three Bulldogs (13-3, 5-0 MW) finished in double figures. Alex Sheedy led the team with 15. Toni Smith had 14 and Bego Faz Davalos added 11.
The Spartans return to action on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. in Fort Collins, Colo., when they face the Colorado State Rams.
San Jose State vs Fresno State
1/14/15 7:05 p.m. at Fresno, Calif. (Save Mart Center)
At Fresno, Calif. (Save Mart Center)
FRESNO STATE 58, SAN JOSE STATE 46
SAN JOSE STATE (8-8 (2-3 MW))
Cunnigan, Ta'Rea 7-14 0-2 16; Harris, Nyre 3-9 0-2 7; Woodberry, Rebecca
1-12 4-4 6; Smith, Jasmine 2-8 0-0 4; Byrd, Riana 1-4 2-2 4; THOMAS,
Chereese 1-2 0-0 3; West, Rachol 1-6 0-0 3; Baird, Paris 1-1 0-0 2; BAKER,
Aniya 0-8 1-2 1; Vann, Emily 0-3 0-0 0; Bettencourt, Ali 0-1 0-0 0; LADD,
Myzhanique 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-68 7-12 46.
FRESNO STATE (13-3 (5-0 MW))
SHEEDY, Alex 6-13 1-2 15; SMITH, Toni 7-12 0-0 14; FAZ DAVALOS, Bego 4-8 3-3
11; DRAPER, Robin 2-6 2-2 7; COLLINS, Shauqunna 2-6 0-0 4; FURR, Alex 1-7
1-4 4; ROVETTI, Stephanie 1-1 0-0 2; FAULK, Moriah 0-3 1-2 1; FOX, Raven 0-2
0-0 0. Totals 23-58 8-13 58.
San Jose State................ 15 31 - 46
Fresno State.................. 31 27 - 58
3-point goals--San Jose State 5-29 (Cunnigan, Ta'Rea 2-4; West, Rachol 1-5;
Thomas, Chereese 1-1; Harris, Nyre 1-4; Baker, Aniya 0-5; Bettencourt, Ali
0-1; Woodberry, Rebecca 0-9), Fresno State 4-19 (SHEEDY, Alex 2-4; DRAPER,
Robin 1-5; FURR, Alex 1-6; COLLINS, Shauqunna 0-1; FAULK, Moriah 0-2; FOX,
Raven 0-1). Fouled out--San Jose State-None, Fresno State-None.
Rebounds--San Jose State 41 (Woodberry, Rebecca 8), Fresno State 49 (FAZ
DAVALOS, Bego 12; SHEEDY, Alex 12). Assists--San Jose State 8 (Baker, Aniya
3), Fresno State 13 (FURR, Alex 4). Total fouls--San Jose State 13, Fresno
State 11. Technical fouls--San Jose State-None, Fresno State-FAULK, Moriah.
A-2231