Fresno, CA—The UC Riverside Women's Basketball Team fell from the ranks of the unbeaten Thursday evening as Fresno State cooled down the Highlanders offense in a 73-61 victory.

UCR entered the game leading the Big West Conference in scoring, field goal percentage, three point field goal percentage and free throw percentage, led by the leading scorer in the nation, Brittany Crain. Stopping Crain was priority one for the Bulldogs, and they kept her off balance for most of the night holding her to just 10 points on four of 15 shooting from the field.

Fresno State never trailed in the game as a 6-0 Bulldogs run turned a 6-6 tie in the early going into a 12-6 lead that they would never relinquish. They held the Highlanders to 33.3 percent shooting from the floor in the first 20 minutes, including zero for six from three-point range.

The Highlanders interior defense kept the Bulldogs at bay in the first as Fresno State made just five of 16 shots from inside the arc, but they were seven for 15 from long distance which helped them secure a nine-point halftime lead, 36-27.

Annelise Ito led UC Riverside with eight points at the break on four of nine shooting. Simone DeCoud was held to just three points, all of which came from the free throw line.

Fresno State scored eight of the first 10 points coming out of the locker room to extend its lead to 15, 44-29. The Highlanders cut the lead to seven on two occasions midway through the second period, but a 10-1 Bulldogs run that ended with 5:24 to go in the game gave Fresno State its largest lead of the night to that point at 18, 68-50.

The Highlanders improved their shooting percentages slightly in the second half, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Bulldogs.

Ito and DeCoud each scored 14 points on the night to lead UC Riverside, while Crain finished with 10. Alex Sheedy paced the Bulldogs with 21 points off the bench adding 11 rebounds in just 16 minutes of action. Alex Furr added 15 points for Fresno State and Robin Draper chipped in with 11.

The Highlanders remain on the road this weekend as they travel to CSU Bakersfield Saturday for a 1 pm PT tip against the Roadrunners.