Women’s WAC Basketball Tournament: Fresno State (1) hits 11 3-pointers to eliminate Hawaii (8)

It wasn’t easy and it wasn’t pretty, but the first-place Fresno State Bulldogs came away with a win in a quarterfinal against the No. 8 seed Hawaii Rainbow Wahine on Wednesday in Reno.

An ugly first half, full of errant passes, ended 33-32 Fresno State, but the Bulldogs outscored the Rainbow Wahine 32-18 in the second half to win 65-50.

The Bulldogs attempted more 3-point shots than 2-point shots, hitting 11-33 from behind the arc and 21-61 total. Senior guard Bailey Amundsen led the team with 18 points, all of them on threes. Center Joh-Teena Filipe and guard Jaleesa Ross followed up with 14 and 13 points, respectively.

Men’s WAC Basketball Tournament: Fresno State (9) edges Hawaii (8) in play-in game

Bulldogs Paul George and Dwight O'Neil celebrate after their victory as Hawaii's Bill Amis shows his disappointment. Chad Ziemendorf - Spartan Daily

The ninth-seeded Fresno State Bulldogs will advance to the quarterfinals of the WAC Tournament after defeating the eighth-seeded Hawaii Rainbow Warriors on Tuesday night in the play-in game.

Let’s go right to the finish.

With 57 seconds to go, Hawaii forward Bill Amis got hacked and went to the line with the score tied, 57-57. He hit one of two, 58-57 Hawaii.

Fresno State forward Seay Sylvester missed a three, but guard Dwight O’Neil got the rebound and bounced it off a Hawaii player as he fell out of bounds. Fresno got the ball with 32 seconds and no shot clock.

So they held for the last shot, right? Nope. O’Neil pulled up for a 15-foot jumper to put the Bulldogs up by one, 59-58, with 21 seconds to go.

Women’s B-Ball falls to Hawaii in WAC Tournament

Shaunna Ridge lets go of a jump shot during the Spartans 70-57 loss vs. Hawaii in the first game of the WAC Women's Basketball Tournament in Reno, Nev. -Chad Ziemendorf - Spartan Daily

The SJSU women’s basketball team ended its season on a bitter note on Tuesday, losing 70-57 to Hawaii in the play-in game of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament in Reno.

It was a tale of two halves, as the Spartans were down 39-24 at halftime but fought back in the second half, in which they forced the Rainbow Wahine into 17 of their 23 turnovers.

“They kept fighting,” said head coach Pam DeCosta said of her players. “You wish they could have done it in the first half. It would have been a different story.”

The Spartans (2-28, 1-15 WAC), who came in to the tournament as the No. 9 seed, scored on their first three possessions to go up 7-6, but wouldn’t have the lead for the rest of the game.

Hawaii (8-22, 4-12 WAC) scored early and often on layups from players cutting to the basket and precise outside shooting, finishing 7-17 from behind the 3-point line and 24-48 from the field.

Daily sports editors set odds to win WAC Tournament and other editor’s give predictions

All odds set by Sports Editors Matthew Kimel and Ryan Buchan

Western Athletic Conference Tournament March 10-14

MEN’S BASKETBALL

UTAH STATE 1/1

NEVADA 3/2

Hornberg: Women’s basketball predicted order of finish in the WAC

Executive Editor John Hornberg predicts the ranked order of finish for women’s basketball teams in the Western Athletic Conference. Each team’s current record/conference record in parentheses.

1. Fresno State (17-6; 8-2 WAC)

Buchan: Men’s basketball predicted order of finish in the WAC

Sports Editor Ryan Buchan predicts the ranked order of finish for men’s basketball teams in the Western Athletic Conference. Each team’s current conference record in parentheses.