Fresno State women’s basketball survives a surprising scare but prevails in OT

The Fresno State women’s basketball team might’ve thought it was in for an easy outing with New Mexico coming to town.

The Lobos hadn’t won in Mountain West play in their first three tries, while the Bulldogs were the only undefeated team in conference play.

Yet entering the fourth quarter, Fresno State found itself surprisingly down 12 points.

That’s when Bulldogs freshman Haley Cavinder took over.

The 5-foot-6 guard nailed all three of her shots behind the arc in scoring 12 of Fresno State’s 26 points in the fourth quarter to force New Mexico into overtime as the Bulldogs rallied for an 84-81 victory Wednesday night.

“Good teams win when they have to,” Bulldogs coach Jamie White said, “and I felt like that’s what our kids did.”

Cavinder finished with 21 points, along with 13 rebounds and seven assists.

Teammate Maddi Utti posted a game-high 28 points and 17 rebounds. She had six points during the extra session.

And Hanna Cavinder added 10 points, including six during the pivotal fourth.

Fresno State (12-4, 5-0) remains atop the Mountain West, while New Mexico (9-8, 0-4) still is searching for its first win in conference play after finishing second last year.

Wednesday was Fresno State’s closest victory of the season, moving to 3-1 in games decided by nine points or less.

The Bulldogs trailed for much of Wednesday night because they committed 21 turnovers compared with 11 by the Lobos.

Jordan Hosey had 25 points and 13 rebounds to lead New Mexico.

This story was originally published January 8, 2020 at 9:31 PM.