Fresno State roundup: Women’s basketball team sees winning streak end at San Diego State
Haley Cavinder knocked down a 3-pointer with 2:34 to go and all of a sudden Fresno State had a four-point lead at San Diego State.
That was about as much breathing room as either team had Saturday in a women’s basketball game in which the score was tied eight times and the lead changed hands 12 times.
But the Bulldogs could not hold on, faltering down the stretch and giving up a layup by Tea Adams with 5 seconds to go in a 79-77 loss to the Aztecs that snapped Fresno State’s five-game winning streak.
Fresno State (13-7 overall, 11-4 Mountain West Conference) got a stop and had two chances to extend that lead, but Cavinder missed in the lane and after securing an offensive rebound Brooke Walling turned it over on a poor pass.
The Aztecs (6-14, 4-10) then closed within one, took a lead and pushed it to three on a pair of foul shots with 32 seconds to go by Adams. The Bulldogs were able to tie to score on a three by Cavinder with 13 seconds remaining – but that was the only one of their final seven shots that went down.
Fresno State struggled at the offensive end, hitting a higher percentage of its 3-point shots than its twos and at the rim was 5 of 16 (31.3%) on layups. The Aztecs outscored the Bulldogs 36-18 in the paint.
Haley Cavinder led the Bulldogs with 27 points and had four rebounds and two assists; and Hanna Cavinder scored 10 points with six rebounds and six assists.
Softball: Bulldogs fall to Oregon
The Bulldogs had a rough second night at their Kickoff Classic, losing to Oregon 10-2 at Margie Wright Diamond.
Fresno State (2-4) had a 2-1 lead after the first inning, but it didn’t last long.
Oregon freshman Alyssa Brito hit a home run leading off the second inning off of Fresno State pitcher Danielle Lung to tie the score, and the Ducks added four more runs before Dariana Orme came on to get the Bulldogs out of the inning.
Lung, a Clovis High grad, ended up facing 12 batters and eight reached base on six hits and three walks. She had not allowed a home run in her first 10.0 innings pitched this season, but allowed six runs against the Ducks, all earned.
The Bulldogs were silenced for the most part from there by Oregon left-hander Brooke Yanez, who struck out 12 and allowed just one hit after Fresno State put up two runs in the first. Yanez retired 17 batters in a row after Hayleigh Galvan doubled with one out in the second, striking out five over the final two innings.
Women’s water polo: No. 8 Cal beats No. 11 Bulldogs in overtime
Fresno State had a three-goal lead on Cal going into the final quarter, but could not hold off the No. 8 team in the country and fell 11-9 in overtime.
Cal tied the score with just five seconds remaining on a goal by senior All-American Briget Mulder.
No. 11 Fresno State had its chances, leading by three goals three times, but was held scoreless over the final 14 minutes of play.
The Bulldogs beat Fresno Pacific in their second game of the day, 22-5. Fresno State outshot the Sunbirds 36-27 and Grace O’Callaghan, Isabella Sonkoly and Kaitlin Howarth each scored two goals.
Elsewhere ...
▪ Fresno State sophomore Athena Clayson, after winning the 100 on Friday, added a victory in the 200 backstroke in an NCAA B Cut time of 1:56.73 and the Bulldogs finished sixth as a team at the Mountain West Conference swimming championship meet in Las Vegas.
▪ Junior Tommy Stephenson had a share of 13th after a second-round 75 for the Bulldogs at the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate golf tournament at the Classic Club in Palm Desert. Stephenson was at 1-under 143 for the event on the par-72, 7,322-yard course.
Colorado State’s A.J. Ott, after rounds of 69 and 68, led the individual field at 7-under 137.
This story was originally published February 20, 2021 at 5:06 PM.