Fresno State women’s basketball: ’Dogs face test to reach first goal

It’s finals week on campus, and the Fresno State women’s basketball team has its own test to pass on the court as the Bulldogs roll into the last two games of their non-conference schedule.

Fresno State (4-5) wants to end the nonconference slate with a winning record, a goal set by coach Jaime White at the beginning of the season.

“Obviously, we want to attain our goal,” said White, acknowledging that her team needs to win both its remaining non-conference games to do that.

The test begins at 2 p.m. Saturday when the Bulldogs (4-5) will welcome an 8-1 San Diego team that started the season by winning seven in a row. It’s also the Bulldogs’ final home non-conference game of the season – they will play Dec. 19 at Utah before returning to Fresno on Dec. 30 for the Mountain West opener against UNLV.

The Toreros are led by twins Malina and Maya Hood. Malina leads the team in scoring, averaging 21.7 points per game that is also tied for 15th-best in the nation. Maya is nearly averaging a double-double with 15.7 points and nine rebounds per game.

Fresno State is led by redshirt sophomore Bego Faz Davalos. In the Bulldogs’ last game, a 72-49 home win over Stanislaus State, she recorded the first triple-double in program history with 24 points, 17 rebounds and 10 blocks. She’s averaging 14 points, 11.2 rebounds and 4.2 blocks per game. Her 38 blocked shots rank No. 1 in the nation, and she’s eighth in total rebounds (101) and 16th in rebounds per game (11.2).

“We played well (last year at San Diego). It was a good game, and we expect the same thing here,” White said.

White also plans to use the remaining non-conference games to get more minutes from her younger players, including true freshman starter Breanne Knishka and junior transfer Kendra Martin.

“I like seeing our young kids play a little bit more, and I think we’ve got to look to them as we go into the conference,” White said. “We saw some legs get tired late in the conference last year. This year, we really want to make sure we have kids ready to go.”

This story was originally published December 11, 2015 at 8:16 PM with the headline "Fresno State women’s basketball: ’Dogs face test to reach first goal."