Friday, November 18
Fresno, CA
6 P.M.
2-2,0-0Big West
48
at
47
Fresno State
2-2,0-0Mountain West
1
2
3
4
F
Cal Poly
12
10
13
13
48
Fresno St.
10
8
10
19
47
Team Stats
CPO
Fresno
FG%
.417
.333
3FG%
.250
.357
FT%
1.000
.800
RB
35
26
TO
19
13
STL
5
13
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
13
FGM
6
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
6
FGM
1
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
5
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Shah’s Game Winner Lifts Mustangs to 48-47 Road Win Over Fresno State
11/18/2022 9:19:00 PM | Women's Basketball
FRESNO, Calif. – Sophomore guard Annika Shah's reverse layup with four seconds left lifted Cal Poly to a 48-47 road win over Fresno State Friday inside the Save Mart Center.
Shah led the Mustangs (2-2) with a career-high 13 points to go along with three assists and two rebounds. Senior forward Julia Nielacna finished with eight points and three rebounds while freshman forward Sierra Lichtie added six points and five rebounds.
"Fresno State's a tough place to play so anytime you get an opportunity to win a game early in non-conference on the road is a huge boost for our players' confidence and shows we're capable of going on the road and executing in a hostile environment," head coach Shanele Stires, who got her first win as a head coach over a Division I opponent on the night, said of the win.
Cal Poly opened the game with a post layup by Natalia Ackerman and a three by Nikola Kovacikova to take a 5-2 lead. Down 8-7 with under a minute to play in the first quarter, a three from Taylor Wu followed by a pair of free throws from Sierra Lichtie were part of a 5-0 run to give the Mustangs a 12-8 lead.
After Fresno State made a three to open the second quarter to take a 13-12 lead, a 6-0 Mustang run over the next five minutes gave Cal Poly a five-point lead. Over the final 40 seconds of the half, both teams traded jumpers to see the Mustangs take a 22-18 lead into halftime.
Cal Poly started the second half with back-to-back baskets by Shah and Ackerman as part of a 4-0 run to push its lead to eight. The Mustangs pushed their lead to as much as nine with 4:30 left in the third before Fresno State cut it to within four over the next two minutes. Cal Poly finished the quarter on a 5-2 run to take a 35-28 lead into the fourth.
Leading by six with four minutes left in the fourth, a Nielacna layup extended it to six before Fresno State trimmed it two after a 4-0 run with two minutes to play. A mid-range jumper by Shah with 1:36 left got the Mustang lead back up to four. With 41 seconds left, the Bulldogs made a three to cut the Cal Poly to 46-45.
With 11 seconds left, Fresno State's Franka Wittenberg made a driving layup to put the Bulldogs up one with seven seconds remaining. Out of a Cal Poly timeout, Shah drove along the left baseline and converted a reverse layup with four seconds left to put the Mustangs ahead 48-47. On Fresno State's final possession, Wittenberg missed a jumper as time expired to seal the win for Cal Poly.
"As you watch how Annika works, she's got a unique set of skills that we can put her in situations to make plays for us," Coach Stires said of Shah. "She had it going at the offensive end and was focused and dialed in so it's exciting for her to make that play at the end for us and everyone on this team couldn't be happier for her."
Cal Poly now prepares for a historic matchup as they get set to welcome in No. 1 South Carolina, the defending national champions, to Mott Athletics Center Tuesday, Nov. 22 at 5 p.m.
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