Fresno State roundup: Robinson ends slump in basketball win over Air Force; softball team swept

Fresno State finished making only one of its last 11 shots, but it had enough built in and up to exit with a 67-64 victory over Air Force on Saturday at Clune Arena in Colorado Springs.

The Bulldogs used their size and athleticism in building a lead, pressing and trapping up the floor in the first half, scoring off turnovers and attacking the rim.

They took much better care of the basketball throughout and took A.J. Walker out of the Falcons’ offense; the guard had dropped a career-high 33 in the first of this two-game Mountain West Conference series.

But they also thrived playing through Orlando Robinson, who had been held to four, six, eight and six points over the past four games, and went for 21 against the Falcons. The Bulldogs’ leading scorer hit 6 of 12 shots and was 9 of 10 at the foul line in putting together a seventh double-double of the season but first since going for 23 and 14 in a victory over San Jose State on Jan. 8.

With time between games in Colorado Springs, there was a lot of conversation, a lot of film.

“A lot of the talks are mentality, starting with your mentality,” coach Justin Hutson said. “But some of it also was film work to try to understand where you can get the ball in a match up zone, what you can do better reading off your teammates. We’re still teaching, and I thought he responded well.”

Robinson, who went in hitting only 65.2% of his foul shots, was at the line with 30 seconds to go in a one-possession game. The 7-foot sophomore knocked down both free throws.

Fresno State (9-7, 7-7 Mountain West) got a stop at the defensive end with Robinson securing the rebound and there they pretty much had a third series sweep in conference play with San Diego State coming to the Save Mart Center this week. The Bulldogs also took two from San Jose State and New Mexico.

With Robinson putting up the 21, 7-1 freshman Braxton Meah hitting 4 of 6 shots in scoring 10 points and the Bulldogs scoring 18 easy points off turnovers, 18 of their 23 baskets came right at the rim on layups and dunks.

“We worked a little bit more on how to get the ball inside in practice. It was a little bit more of a review, and able to watch the film and say ‘Here’s where we can attack them,’ Our guards did a good job of getting it to them inside and our bigs did a good job of finishing.”

Softball: ’Dogs swept at Loyola Marymount

The Bulldogs had a rough opening weekend in Los Angeles, getting swept 4-2 and 2-0 at Loyola Marymount on Saturday after a loss at No. 1 UCLA on Friday.

They scored just two runs in the three games.

Fresno State was down 3-0 in the first of two games against the Lions when Kelsey Hall reached on an error to open the fifth inning. Hall advanced to second and then third on ground outs and scored an unearned run on a double by Adrianna Noriega.

They added a run in the sixth on a home run by Kelcey Carrasco, her first of the season and seventh of her career.

UCLA sophomore right-hander Megan Faraimo struck out 13 in six shutout innings, allowing only one hit in the Bruins’ 7-0 win Friday. Bubba Nickles, a former Merced High star, hit a leadoff homer in the first inning in her return to the lineup after touring with the U.S. Olympic Team in 2020.

The Bulldogs return home to play Pacific in a doubleheader on Friday to open the Fresno State Kickoff Classic.

Women’s volleyball: Fresno State splits opening series

The Bulldogs won their season-opener Friday, beating host San Diego State 3-0, but lost to the Aztecs 3-1 Saturday. Fresno State has home matches Thursday and Friday against San Jose State.

This story was originally published February 13, 2021 at 3:57 PM.