July 19, 2009

FRESNO, Calif. - Fresno State Athletics has had many memorable moments during its history. Each day during the month of July, Gobulldogs.com will highlight a great moment from Fresno State Athletics history.

The Save Mart Center is in its seventh year as the home of the Fresno State men's and women's basketball programs, the Save Mart center is recognized around the nation as being one of the finest on-campus college arenas.

Before the completion of the Save Mart center both the men and women's basketball team played at separate facilities. The men played at the Selland Area and the women competed in the North Gym, with the 2002-03 season's being their last before beginning the 2003-04 season in the Save Mart Center.

The Save Mart Center was opened on Oct. 19, 2003. With its size and state of the art video and sound equipment, the Save Mart center served as the major provider of Fresno State basketball. The seating capacity of the arena is 15, 596. The Save Mart Center is the top average attendance leader the last six years in the Western athletic Conference.

The men's basketball team has compiled a home record of 65-33 through six seasons, winning 66 percent of games played in the arena. During the 2006-07 season, the men's basketball team hosted a white out game against Stanford, which topped the charts as the largest crowd ever at the Save Mart Center, bringing in 15,423 fans.

Women's basketball has compiled a 64-22 (.744) overall record in home games at the Save Mart Center. The Bulldogs first season in the arena produced several school attendance records, including a No. 19 national ranking in average home attendance and the third largest yearly increase among other Division 1 women's basketball programs.

In the inaugural year of the Save Mart Center, the women's basketball team set a single-game attendance record in the season opener against Pepperdine on Nov. 19, 2004. A total of 7,042 fans passed through the turnstiles. The women's basketball team enjoyed their best home season to date in 2005-06, finishing a program best 15-1. All but one of those 15 victories were of the double digit variety.

The Save Mart Center also serves as the home of the Fresno State volleyball team. The 2006-07 season was the inaugural year for the volleyball team to begin competition in the new arena. In 2009 the new volleyball specific configuration was unveiled. It uses half of the Save Mart center and seats 3,333 fans. The new layout allows the fans to be closer to the action.

The Save Mart center has already hosted three major sporting events. In March of 2004, the facility served as a host site for the McCaffrey WAC basketball tournament. The following year, the Save Mart Center was the venue for the first and second rounds of the 2005 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament, marking the first time NCAA basketball has visited Fresno. In 2006-07, Fresno State was one of four schools to serve as a NCAA Women's Basketball Championship regional site host.

We Are Your Team - For Fresno State ticket information log onto gobulldogs.com or call 559-278-DOGS.