Bulldogs women have to battle this time, but sweep Boise State to tie for conference lead

Fresno State ran Boise State off the floor in the first of two games between two of the best teams in the Mountain West Conference, and the Bulldogs kept on pushing and poking at the Broncos on Saturday in game two at the Save Mart Center, doing the things that they do.

They did not take care of the basketball or shoot it nearly as well, particularly from the 3-point line.

But the end result was the same, even if the margin was not and none of the Bulldogs were about to complain about a 67-64 victory over a team that had come to town in first place in the conference.

“Hey, a win is a win, right?” coach Jaime White said. “Not nearly as exciting … well, I guess way more exciting than the other night. It was a great game the other night and to come off of that we felt like, a lot of energy, a lot of excitement with that win, and then we just have to turn around and play them again. We knew they were going to come with a little different game. I knew Mallory (McGwire) would play better tonight. I knew (Jade) Loville would play better tonight. We knew that would happen …”

Fresno State (8-5, 6-2 Mountain West), which had ripped Boise State by 35 on Thursday, turned the ball over 19 times and was just 5 of 17 (29.4%) from the 3-point line. It also was down by as many as eight points in the third quarter, but closed quickly and down the stretch won the late-game situations, taking advantage of some Boise State mistakes, to emerge with a fourth win in a row and tied with Colorado State for first place in the Mountain West.

They played through some adversity and some hard fouls with no calls to get to the final minutes, the score tied with 1:23 to go.

Haley Cavinder hit the first of two free throws there to put the Bulldogs up one, and at the other end the Broncos had to settle for a three from Loville late in the shot clock that missed by plenty.

Bulldogs capitalize on Boise State errors

Haley Cavinder then knocked down a three with 29 seconds to play, with the Boise State defenders misplaying and slow to close off a screen.

“For some reason she went low and I was just like, if she’s going to give me that room I’m going to take it,” Haley Cavinder said. “I’m glad it went in.”

That was not the last miscue for Boise State (8-3, 5-3).

The Broncos came out of a timeout down three with 11 seconds to go and ended up burning all but three seconds before jamming the ball to Loville in the paint rather than get a look from three.

“They did the same thing twice,” White said. “They went to 30 (Loville) because she’s a good, strong body, she does have that fallaway. I thought maybe they were trying to get an and-1. I didn’t know, or they just thought they had a lot of time and they could score, and then we’d call a timeout and still have seconds on the clock …”

Boise State coach Gordy Presnell admitted after the game that “I thought we needed a two.”

The shot from Loville missed, the rebound ending up in the hands of the Broncos’ Abby Muse, but time ran out.

Imperfect, but Bulldogs now share Mountain West lead

“Not a pretty game, but we did have a lead toward the end,” White said. “We hit the free throws we had to — not all the ones we want, necessarily. We did what we had to win and I think good teams do that.”

By three or 35, it was a good weekend for the Bulldogs, who were led by forward Maddi Utti, who hit 9 of 12 shots in scoring a team-high 20 points. Fresno State, with all five starters returning from a team that won a Mountain West regular-season title, was 4-5 and 2-2 in conference play just two series ago.

“The 35-point games are always fun,” Utti said. “You’re always so hyped and then the 3-point game you’re a little bit more tense during the game. You don’t know what’s going to happen and all that. I definitely like winning the closer games. I think it feels better … but they’re both a lot of fun.”

Next for Bulldogs

FRESNO STATE VS. NEW MEXICO

When/where: 5 p.m. Thursday, 10 a.m. Saturday at Canyon, Texas

Records: Bulldogs 8-5, 6-2 in the MW; Lobos 6-1, 3-1

This story was originally published January 23, 2021 at 7:14 PM.