Senior forward Kristina Santiago’s 27 points and career-high 23 rebounds weren’t enough to save the Mustangs Sunday, as Fresno State outlasted the Cal Poly women’s basketball team 79-76 in Mott Gym.
After 18 lead changes, Fresno State guard Madison Parrish sunk two free throws with 11.9 seconds left to put the Bulldogs (2-2) up by two. Following a timeout with five seconds remaining, senior guard Ashlee Burns scampered down the length of the court but missed a running layup attempt to tie the game. Sophomore guard Taylor Thompson was fouled on Fresno State’s ensuing possession with three seconds to go in the contest. She hit one of two free throws to give the Bulldogs their final advantage of the day.
Both teams played with frenetic pace from the tip-off, but Fresno State’s full court press for the entire 40 minutes proved to be too much for the Mustangs (1-2) to overcome, according to head coach Faith Mimnaugh.
“It messed with our rhythm,” Mimnaugh said. “We never got into any offensive set (Sunday) primarily because of what (Fresno State) was doing defensively, and it disrupted us enough that we didn’t get into a flow.”
Fresno State started strong, jumping out to a 15-7 lead in the opening four minutes. After a timeout, Cal Poly responded to pull within one. With 10:46 to go in the half the Bulldogs extended their lead to 27-18, their largest of the afternoon. The Mustangs then went on a 23-13 run to close out the first half to lead 41-40.
Santiago said the fast-paced offense is the cornerstone of the team’s play, but it will take several games before the Mustangs can adjust to the pace that they’re comfortable playing at.
“It’s early in the year, so we’re still getting used to the high pace,” Santiago said. “We’re still trying to get back into it, especially with all the injuries coming back. … That’s the type of game we try and play.”
After the intermission, each team traded points the remainder of the game. Neither squad held more than a three point advantage in the final eight minutes of play. Cal Poly’s final lead came with 1:53 to play courtesy of a Santiago tip-in off of her own missed layup.
The Mustangs are already plagued by injuries this season — junior forward Kayla Griffin was the latest to go down in Cal Poly’s already-deflated lineup at Friday’s practice. Mimnaugh said her team is not at full strength this early in the season, but once several key players return from injury, the Mustangs will have a shot to go far in the conference playoffs.
“When you think of the pieces that are currently not in there — think about (Abby) Bloestscher is not on the court, (Christine) Martin is coming off of a back surgery, we’ve got another kid in (Nikol) Allison who has a back injury,” Mimnaugh said. “Once we can get them back and move Santiago around the floor a little bit, come conference-play time, I think we’re going to be a tear.”
The 76 points scored by the Mustangs was their lowest total for the season as they combined to shoot 29 for 67 (43 percent) from the field and hit eight 3-pointers on the afternoon. Cal Poly put up 93 points in an opening-game loss to Oregon and scored 82 against San Francisco in the lone victory of the season.
Led by 2009-10 Big West Player of the Year Santiago, who played every minute of the contest, the Mustangs had three players in double figures including Burns (18) and senior guard Martin with five boards along with her 14 points.
“We started off strong,” Martin said. “We wanted to focus on our defensive pressure, team defense, having each other’s backs and we did well in that area. We wanted to push the ball as much as we could, and in the end, it was kind of back and forth. They’d get a three, we’d get a three. We needed to lock down in that situation, and we made little mistakes that cost us the game in the end.”