Fresno State women bounce back, get by Colorado State for first Mountain West win

Clearly, Fresno State did not want to see 0-2 in Mountain West women’s basketball play. But the Bulldogs did stare at it for a while on Friday in the second of a two-game conference-opening series against Colorado State.

But after trailing after one, then two and then three quarters, playing well in spurts and then not so well in others, the Bulldogs put together 10 good minutes of basketball and came back from down seven to beat the Rams 78-74 at the Save Mart Center.

“Not necessarily a great start,” coach Jaime White said. “First quarter wasn’t bad. Second quarter was probably the one where we were searching for something. Late in the second quarter we switched up our defense a little bit and I thought that was much better.

“Man, they can shoot, so we were constantly having to get out to shooters, which was pulling our defense and opening some holes.”

The Rams, who won the opening game of the series 89-83 on Thursday, took advantage of enough of those openings to lead by as many as 10 points early in the third quarter, and they put the Bulldogs through a nervy final minute.

Free throws

Fresno State (2-2, 1-1 in the MW) tied the score at 65 when senior guard Aly Gamez hit the second of two free throws with 4:47 to go.

From there it was the Cavinder twins, Haley and Hanna, taking over down the stretch, grabbing rebounds, driving hard to the rim. Haley Cavinder and then Hanna Cavinder scored around a Colorado State (3-1, 1-1) basket. Hanna Cavinder scored on a short jumper and then Haley scored in the paint, driving to the basket.

With 1:10 to go, the Bulldogs led by six at 73-67. It was four, then five and then two when the Rams’ Tori Williams knocked down a three.

The Bulldogs’ attempt to put the game down did not go well. Fresno State hit 18 of its 22 foul shots in the game, but Gamez made only the second of two with 26 seconds to go and Haley Cavinder made only the second of two foul shots with 20 seconds to play.

Colorado State, down two, had a shot to tie or take a lead but out of a timeout Williams missed a quick and contested three. Gamez was there for the rebound, her 10th, got fouled and this time made both foul shots.

Double-doubles

The senior guard had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Haley Cavinder also had a double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds as well as three assists, one steal and one big blocked shot on the 6-foot-1 Lore Devos under the basket with the Bulldogs up four and 2:05 to play.

“I just felt hyped up, just to get a good defensive stop and we got the ball back,” she said. “Luckily it bounced off her leg, so it was a good defensive stop.”

The Bulldogs had to rebound from that opening loss with a very quick turnaround and also got some good minutes from Kendyll Kinzer in her first start and a couple of big 3-point shots from freshman guard Keely Brown off the bench.

Hanna Cavinder finished with 19 points, three rebounds and four assists.

“We had a couple of adjustments, which were great,” White said. “It was simple enough that you could do it within hours, I guess, and then just really proud of our kids. It’s so hard physically to be able to come back, especially our starting five logged a lot of minutes both nights but still played with that tenacity and that urgency.”

Next for Bulldogs

Fresno State returns to nonconference action Friday vs. Saint Mary’s at the Save Mart Center. The next Mountain West action is Jan. 2 and 4 at Wyoming.