FRESNO, Calif. - The University of Idaho women's basketball team was able to keep the Fresno State Bulldogs within six points at the half, but was unable to keep up with the well rested home squad and fell, 75-53, Saturday at the Save Mart Center.

"They did a good job of trapping us on the perimeter and making it hard for our girls to shoot," Idaho coach Mike Divilbiss said. "The defense also did a good job of keeping the passes out of the post. The biggest factor is we got tired. It was a six point game at halftime. We played pretty well defensively in the first half and kept them off the boards very well. There is no question we were tired. Five-of-22 from the 3-point line isn't how we shoot it."

"We had 16 assists and only 12 turnovers, which is a pretty good ratio against a team that last season turned us over 27 or 30 times. You can see these girls growing and improving."

With the loss Idaho falls to 5-16 overall and 2-8 on the year in Western Athletic Conference action. Fresno State improves to 12-9 overall and 5-3 in the WAC.  

Despite an early run by Fresno State, Idaho was able to keep the game close in the first half. The Bulldogs opened the half on a 22-12 run that dominated the first 12:50 of the game. Idaho began fighting its way back into the contest, however, and a Liz Witte 3-pointer with just over a minute to play cut the lead to six, 32-26.

Idaho opened the second half by quickly halving that six-point edge with a Lindsey Koppen 3-pointer.

That might have been the lone bright spot in the second half as the Vandals were unable to keep up with a Bulldog squad that hadn't played a game all week. Fresno State outscored Idaho 43-27 in the second half.

Idaho was able to keep Fresno State off the offensive glass in the first half limiting the Bulldogs to six offensive rebounds. The second half, however, was a different story as the home squad collected 13 rebounds on the offensive end. Overall, Fresno State won the rebounding battle 52-31.

Katie Madison had 15 points to lead the Vandals, she also had seven rebounds in the game. Sara Dennehy was the only other Vandal in double-figures as she had 11 points before leaving the game in the second half with a foot injury. The extent of the injury is not yet known.

Chantella Perera led the way for Fresno State as she tallied a game-high 16 points.  Perera was joined in double-digits by Tierre Wilson who had 10 and Paige Diggs who recorded 14 points.

Idaho returns home to take on Boise State, Wednesday at the Cowan Spectrum at 7 p.m. PST.