Fresno State women’s basketball opener: Did Bulldogs break through vs. Power 5 opponent?
The Fresno State women’s basketball team has all five starters and more than 90% of their minutes, points, rebounds, assists and steals returning. They were picked to win the Mountain West Conference in a preseason poll.
But the Bulldogs were playing up in their 2020-21 season opener, taking on West Virginia on Friday at the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout, and once the Mountaineers got going they had difficulty slowing them down in an 83-62 setback in Las Vegas.
West Virginia had a three-point lead midway through the second quarter, but hit 10 of its next 11 shots including four 3-pointers to take a 17-point lead into halftime.
Fresno State (0-1) had some wild fourth-quarter comebacks in conference play a year ago, winning on the road at San Jose State when down 12 with 8:30 to play and against New Mexico when down 16 with nine minutes to go. But the Bulldogs could not make much of a dent against the Mountaineers, who had decisive edges at the 3-point line and at the rim.
West Virginia hit 10 of its 20 threes, while the Bulldogs were 5 of 24 (20.8%). The Mountaineers also had a 24-6 advantage rebounding the basketball at the offensive end, which they turned into 27 second-chance points.
Fresno State, which was scheduled to play Lamar on Saturday at the South Point tournament, has not beaten an opponent from a Power Five conference since 2014, a 68-59 victory at Oregon.
Hanna Cavinder led the Bulldogs with 19 points, hitting 8 of 14 shots with two rebounds and three assists. Haley Cavinder added 15 points with six rebounds and six assists and Maddi Utti, the Mountain West preseason player of the year, had 12 points and seven rebounds.
Mountain West opener
Fresno State jumps into Mountain West play Thursday and Friday against Colorado State at the Save Mart Center. Both games are scheduled to start at 6 p.m. The series was originally scheduled for Dec. 28 and 30.
This story was originally published November 27, 2020 at 3:14 PM.