The first year under Head Coach Ryan McCarthy for Fresno State women’s basketball (14-15, 9-10) is nearing its end, with just two games left before heading to Las Vegas for the program’s final Mountain West Conference tournament (March 7-10) before joining the Pac-12 this July.
The Bulldogs will wrap up the regular season at New Mexico on Tuesday, March 3. But before that comes, they have one final home game this Saturday at 2 p.m. as part of a doubleheader with the men’s team (scheduled to play at 4:30 p.m.).
Fresno State will welcome the University of Las Vegas, Nevada (18-10, 13-5) for its final game at the Save Mart Center for the 2025-26 season. The Bulldogs will look for revenge after falling 85-59 to the Rebels on New Years Eve. Fresno State opened the first quarter with a 14-12 lead before falling behind quickly in the second quarter.
Prior to the game on Saturday, Fresno State will honor its six graduating seniors, all transfers: Emilia Long, Jaisa Gamble, Indiya Clarke, Hedda Köehne, Djessira Diawara and Morelia Chavez.
Emilia Long
Millie comes to Fresno State after beginning her college career helping lead Peninsula College to back-to-back conference titles and being named defensive player of the year. Long then made a pit stop at Cal Poly Humboldt where she was named Newcomer of the Year in both basketball and soccer. Fun Fact: The Washington native was a four-sport star (basketball, soccer, tennis, track) in High School at Port Angeles.
Long then transferred to the University of Alaska Anchorage where she ran McCarthy’s offense averaging 12.2 points per game, 5.2 assists per game and 3.6 rebounds per game. She was also named conference DPOY after leading the nation with 4.1 steals per game. Her success has carried over to the Division I level as a captain for Fresno State. The guard leads the Bulldogs this season with 13.4 PPG, 3.7 APG and 2.4 SPG while starting in all 29 games.
“[Emilia] kind of embodies what we want our program to be about. Three girls on this team out of high school had division one offers, and she was not one of those players. She just plays with that ultimate chip on her shoulder,” McCarthy said.
Jaisa Gamble
The Bay Area native played at UC San Diego and Laney College before joining McCarthy in Alaska the last two years where she started in 55 of 61 games. A pickpocket wizard, Gamble has averaged at least 1.8 SPG each of the last four seasons.
Gamble has played in all 29 games for the Bulldogs this season, averaging 8.3 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 2 APG and 2.1 SPG as a captain of the defense. Fun Fact: Gamble did a study abroad program during her senior year of High School.
Gamble has scored in double figures 10 times this season for the Bulldogs, including a 13 point, 7 rebound, 4 steal performance in a win at Utah State earlier this month. She scored a season high 18 against Fresno Pacific to open the season back in November.
Indiya Clarke
The Alaska native spent her first three seasons playing at Wofford College in South Carolina before coming to Fresno. Clarke has played in 21 games this season (11 GS), averaging 4.9 PPG and 4.2 RPG. She also has a career high 17 steals.
The senior guard had 11 points, 9 rebounds and a pair of steals in a win over San Jose State on January 7th. Fun Facts: Clarke grew up doing gymnastics before playing basketball. She also loves photography and hiking.
“She’s been very consistent for us, and she’s just a big, strong woman,” McCarthy said. “That’s not somebody you want to get run over by, so she just gives us that edge that I felt we needed.”
Hedda Köehne
Köehne averaged 10.1 PPG, 6.8 RPG and 2.2 BPG in 50 games playing at Otero Junior College. The German native transferred to the University of Alaska Anchorage for the 2024-25 season where she averaged 5.7 PPG and 1.3 BPG.
During this season, Köehne has played in 28 of 29 games, averaging 3.2 PPG & 3.9 RPG in just over 17 minutes per game. She also had 16 steals and 9 blocks on the season. Her best game of the game came back in November when she scored 10 points and a game-high 14 rebounds in the Bulldogs 61-48 victory over Louisiana. Fun Facts: “Heddi” would like to return to living in Europe after college. She is also bilingual (German and English).
Djessira Diawara
Arguably the most experienced player on this team’s roster, is currently in her sixth season after stops at Salt Lake CC (2020-22), Clarendon College (2022-23), Houston (2023-24) and San Jose State (2024-25) before coming to Fresno State.
The Mali native has played in 26 games this season, including 10 starts, scoring 5.1 PPG, while grabbing 4.5 RPG on 47.3% shooting. The forward scored 8 points and grabbed a season high 13 rebounds at San Jose State on February 4th. Fun Facts: Diawara is left-handed but shoots with her right hand. She also speaks three languages: English, French and Bambara.
Morelia Chavez
Chavez came to Fresno State after spending two seasons with Eastern Arizona College before transferring to Florida State for her junior season. The Michoacan, Mexico native is averaging 3.3 PPG and 1.9 RPG while playing in 24 games (10.6 MPG) this season.
Chavez has scored in double figures in three of her last six games, including a 13-point, 7-rebound performance in a win at San Jose State on February 4th. Fun Facts: Like Köehne and Diawara, “Momo” speaks multiple languages, Spanish and English.
Story written by Al Scott, cover photo courtesy of Ryan Sepulveda.