Bulldogs challenged by Nevada, but go to their strength in advancing to MW Tournament semis

The Fresno State women’s basketball team got back to attacking and creating its own success in the paint and moved into the semifinals of the Mountain West Tournament with a 75-71 victory over Nevada on Monday at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Led by guards Haley and Hanna Cavinder and Aly Gamez, the top-seeded Bulldogs scored 46 points in the paint, and they needed every one of them to hold off the No. 8 Wolf Pack, who for a third year in a row made a run at one of the conference heavyweights in Las Vegas.

Nevada last season was a No. 8 seed and almost knocked off No. 1 seed Boise State, losing by five. In 2018, the Wolf Pack was a No. 7 and beat the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds on the way to the championship game.

But when Nevada challenged Fresno State (24-6) in the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs knew where to go for points.

“I think we just took what the defense gave us and I think our teammates did a really good job of setting the screens and getting us open and working the ball and reversing it,” Hanna Cavinder said.

Haley Cavinder said: “They were taking away my left hand drives, so I was trying to penetrate to the right. They were going to give up something for us, so we just hit the shots that they were giving up to us.”

With Fresno State up three points with 8:14 to play, Hanna Cavinder scored on a drive to the basket. On the Bulldogs’ next trip down the floor Haley Cavinder sent a Nevada defender flying with a jump stop in the paint and, left wide open a foot from the basket, simply banked one in.

Then, up three with 2:40 to go, Gamez drove the basketball off a shot fake from the baseline 3-point line and scored on a drive.

Fresno State scored 23 of its 31 baskets in the paint with four coming from the 3-point line – the Bulldogs were 4 of 12 there including a crusher by Haley Cavinder with 1:24 to go, the attempts a season-low.

The Bulldogs, the No. 1 seed after going 16-2 and winning the regular-season title, play No. 4 San Jose State in a semifinal at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The Spartans beat No. 5 UNLV 67-48.

“It’s less time than we’re used to, but we’ll do the exact same thing, just probably shorten it up a little bit” coach Jaime White said. “We’re going to play a good team, whether it’s UNLV or San Jose and we’ve had great games with both those teams. I do think there is somewhat of an advantage that we have beaten both teams so we have that confidence going in, but we’ve had really good close games with both of them.

“I feel like just getting this first game under our belt kind of calmed everybody down and now we know what it feels like and (can) get out there and just play. We know that the best team is going to win that day and we’ve got to be that best team.”

Haley Cavinder led the Bulldogs with 26 points against the Wolf Pack (15-16) including all four of Fresno State’s makes from the 3-point line, and had six rebounds and four assists.

Hanna Cavinder had 16 with four assists and Gamez had 15 points with five coming from the foul line – the junior guard was 3 of 4 at the line in the final 11 seconds, closing out the Wolf Pack.

The Bulldogs also got 22 minutes from Brooke Walling, which included two points, four rebounds and one slick assist to Haley Cavinder cutting to the basket for an easy score. The 22 minutes were one off a season-high, and the most Walling has played since playing 23 in a Jan. 8 victory over New Mexico.

“Nevada has great post players and we felt like we had to have a bigger presence in there to rebound and to contest and I think Brooke did a good job with that,” White said. “Also, she’s quicker at times to move six to eight feet and we need that in the zone.”

This story was originally published March 2, 2020 at 2:55 PM.