Nevada Appeal Sports Staff
RENO - So close, yet so far.
Nevada's dreams of a first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance went up in smoke when Fresno State scored nine of the game's final 11 points to send the Wolf Pack women to a 56-49 defeat Saturday in the WAC championship game at Lawlor Events Center.
Nevada finished its first season under Jane Albright with an 18-14 record, while Fresno State advances to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year with a 24-8 record.
"I want to congratulate Fresno State," Albright said. "They are a great basketball team. They finished the regular season in first place. They were in a tough environment and they played a great basketball game. Jaleesa Ross was exceptional. We didn't have an answer for her
"It's really hard to beat a team when you give up 26 offensive rebounds (Fresno State enjoyed a 51-34 edge). We got beat at our own game which is rebounding. They were getting two, three and four looks at it every time."
The Bulldogs turned those 26 offensive rebounds into 16 second-chance points, and considering Nevada lost by seven, that stat is huge.
"Rebounding was tough," said senior forward Cherlanda Franklin. I feel like I let the team down because I didn't get my average."
Besides the rebounding, Fresno State's Jaleesa Ross, who was the tournament MVP for the second straight year, did an excellent defensive job on Dellena Criner, who managed just eight points on 4-for-11 shooting. She spent most of the game hounding Criner.
"It started with Jaleesa," Fresno State coach Adrian Wiggins said. "We would double Criner if she got past Jaleesa. We tried to make her give the ball up."
Neither team played well in the first half. Fresno State shot 28 percent, but still led 31-20 at the half after a 13-2 surge in the final 6 minutes 9 seconds. Marnique Arnold scored seven of her nine points in that stretch.
Nevada got untracked in the second half, outscoring Fresno State 21-9 over the first 10 minutes to take a 41-40 lead. Megan Cherry scored on a drive and then knocked down two free throws to put the Pack up by one.
Fresno State went on a 7-0 run to go up 47-41 with 6:35 left, but a 12-footer by Kayla Williams plus layups by Criner and Brandi Jones tied the game at 47 with 5:06 left.
That's when the game got away from the Pack. Nevada went 1-for-5 from the floor and turned the ball over twice down the stretch.
Albright blamed the collapse down the stretch on fatigue. She said the team had some good looks but couldn't get the ball to go down.
Based on its second-place finish in the regular season, Louisiana Tech gets an automatic WNIT berth.
Albright said she doesn't expect Nevada to get a post-season invite.
"I've not heard anything about it," she said. "I don't think we'll be asked."