The Fresno State women’s basketball team (8-8) earned their second conference win of the season, beating San Jose State University (2-14) 67-52 on Jan. 7 at the Save Mart Center.
The name of the game for the Spartans was their 2-3 zone, which they stayed in for the majority of the game. As a result, the Bulldogs shot 30% from the field, 10% less than their season average (41%). Head Coach Ryan McCarthy saw this game as a lesson to learn from.
“They did a good job of making us guess what were good shots and bad shots,” McCarthy said. “From a maturity stand-point, this will really help us as we’re able to watch film and show [the players], ‘Hey, you had this opportunity here, and we didn’t take it, and this was the result of you not taking the shot you’ve practiced.”
Despite the performance from guards Emilia Long and Danae Powell, a performance that fwas forward Indiya Clark, who displayed grit and confidence in her shot throughout the game—something that didn’t go unnoticed by McCarthy.
“A casual basketball guy will look at this and be like, ‘[Indiya] was 1-11, but she led us in rebounding, she led us in offensive rebounding, and she got fouled the most,’ so she did a lot of things that impact winning,” McCarthy said. “Indiya should have been 1-20 because she probably passed on nine shots because she was feeling bad.”
McCarthy added that this effort is a common trend in practice which led to her back-to-back starting nods.
“She’s been very consistent in practice 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 the last couple of games.”
Key players
Emilia Long (FS): 22 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal.
Danae Powell (FS): 20 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals.
Indiya Clark (FS): 11 points (8-10 on free-throws), 9 rebounds, 2 steals.
What happened
Powell opened the game with a solo scoring run, scoring the ‘Dogs’ first eight points of the game. The rest of the team pitched in on the defensive end, forcing the Spartans to seven early turnovers, converting them to seven points to earn the early 8-3 lead.
In the final minutes, the Spartans’ found their footing on both ends of the court, giving the Bulldogs problems on defense with their 2-3 zone and chasing after loose balls to trim the ‘Dogs’ lead to 19-14.
In the second quarter, the duo of Long and Clark powered the Bulldogs through the quarter, scoring a combined 18 of the ‘Dogs’ 27 second quarter points.
Clark started things off with getting to the free throw line, attempting all of the Bulldogs’ six second quarter free throws, going four of six from the line. Clark handed the scoring baton to Long, who went five-for-five from the field to contribute to the Bulldogs’ 46-23 lead heading into halftime.
After one half of basketball, Long leads all scorers with 18 points, followed by Powell with 13. The Spartans have yet to have a player reach double-digit points, with their highest scoring players being forward Gabriela Pato and guard Maya Anderson with five points each. The Spartans also turned the ball over 18 times, which the Bulldogs converted into 10 points.
In the second quarter, both teams had a lid on the basket. The Bulldogs went 2-15 (13.3%) from the field and 0-2 from beyond-the-arch, whereas the Spartans went 2-12 (16.7%) from the field and 2-11 (18.2%) from the three-point line. As a result, the score didn’t budge too much with the Bulldogs entering the final quarter up 54-33.
To close out the game, the lid remained on the basket for the two teams, mostly due to the strong defense. However, the Spartans would edge out the Bulldogs in the scoring column, outscoring the ‘Dogs 19-13—but, it wasn’t enough as the Bulldogs pulled away with the 67-52 victory.
What’s next
The Bulldogs continue conference play on the road, facing a familiar face in former Bulldog Holly Griffiths and Mountain West newcomer Grand Canyon University (3-12) on Jan. 10 at 12 p.m.
Recap/cover photo by Vincent Ordonio (FSM).