Big blowout for Bulldogs women basketball, dominating in 66-point margin of victory

The Fresno State women’s basketball team got a little mojo back Saturday afternoon at the Save Mart Center, just in time for the heart of its season.

The Bulldogs finished nonconference play with a 92-26 victory over NAIA UC Merced, racing off to a 14-point lead after one quarter, a 36-point lead at halftime and a 50-point lead after three quarters.

“It’s not ideal,” coach Jaime White said. “But I did think our kids came out and played really good in the first half. It’s a good game with not a lot of time to prepare for the next game. It’s nice after Christmas to have one game under your belt before we play a conference game so we were excited about that.

“I thought for the most part we were efficient – 52% from the field. Maddi Utti, 8 for 10, that’s great. Haley (Cavinder) getting 19 points and nine rebounds, again, she continues to rebound for us, which is really nice. We need that. So, other than that, it’s nice to get everyone playing time. I thought we passed the ball well with 23 assists. We forced 27 turnovers. Ideally, if the game on Wednesday goes that way I’ll be really excited about a 66-point win.”

In their previous outing, Fresno State lost 90-66 at Santa Clara, emphatically ending what had been a four-game winning streak including 2-0 to start Mountain West Conference play.

The Bulldogs (9-4) resume Mountain West play New Year’s Day with a 6 p.m. game against San Diego State at the Save Mart Center.

Fresno State is in a good spot in conference, one of four undefeated teams including Mountain West favorite Boise State. Another 2-0 team, San Jose State, plays at New Mexico on Wednesday before hosting the Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon, Jan. 4.

Fresno State plays Boise State just once, Jan. 25 on the road.

The NCAA Division I competition is a new step up for UC Merced of the NAIA California Pacifiic Conference.

The Bobcats have enjoyed a solid run under fifth-year coach Sarah Hopkins-Chery, who has an 85-52 record at UC Merced including four straight winning seasons.

This year the Bobcats are 6-7 including an 80-44 loss to University of the Pacific on Nov. 1 – UC Merced’s first-ever game against a D-I opponent.

The Bobcats play Monday at 5 p.m. at Fresno Pacific before starting CalPac play.

This story was originally published December 28, 2019 at 4:21 PM.