Fresno State women’s hoops rallies from 17 points, stays undefeated in Mountain West

Within the first four minutes of play, the Fresno State women’s basketball team found itself down double digits.

That deficit would grow as large as 17 points with Fresno State sluggish on offense and vulnerable defensively to Boise State’s long-distance shooting.

It certainly seemed like the Bulldogs were about to lose their first game in Mountain West play.

But then their offense started clicking – led by freshman Haley Cavinder’s game-high 25 points – and the Bulldogs’ defense suddenly put a stop to the Broncos’ 3-point shots.

It all added up to Fresno State rallying for an 85-80 win Saturday at Boise State to stay undefeated in conference play.

Fresno State (16-4, 9-0) also extended its winning streak to eight games while separating itself further from Boise State (14-7, 6-3), the defending conference champion but tied for third in the Mountain West standings. And the Bulldogs stopped the Broncos’ 18-game Mountain West home winning streak.

Fresno State held Boise State to 3 of 12 shooting from 3-point range during the final 24 minutes. Boise State had made 6 of its first 10 3-pointers, which had fueled the 17-point lead.

Fresno State also converted on 20 of 26 free throws (11 of 16 in the fourth quarter), which significantly helped the Bulldogs cut their deficit while keeping time on the clock.

The Bulldogs trailed 60-50 going into the final quarter then scored 35 points in the fourth. Kendyll Kinzer’s 3-pointer with 1:04 left gave them the lead for good at 78-75. Kinzer scored all eight of her points in the fourth.

Fresno State’s Maddi Utti finished with 21 points, and teammate Hanna Cavinder (Haley’s twin) added 14 points.

The Bulldogs come home to play 10th-place Air Force (4-16, 2-7) on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

This story was originally published January 25, 2020 at 7:03 PM.