Nov. 26, 2011
The San Diego State women's basketball team had three players notch career highs in scoring to stay perfect at home with a 63-51 victory Saturday over visiting Washington at Viejas Arena. The Aztecs, who are receiving votes in both national top-25 polls, improved to 4-1 overall, while the Huskies dropped to 3-2 on the year following the first-ever meeting between the two sides.
Four of the five SDSU starters scored in double-figures including three with career-high point totals. Freshman forward Chairese Culberson (Oakland, Calif.) notched a team-high 14 points, including her first career 3-pointer, to go with four of the team's 13 steals. Senior center Kalena Tutt (Long Beach, Calif.) had a career-high 13 points and six rebounds, while junior guard Chelsea Hopkins (Las Vegas, Nev.) posted career bests in both points (12) and rebounds (7) and also recorded five assists and three steals in 27 minutes of action. Junior Courtney Clements (Long Beach, Calif.) was the fourth Aztec with at least 10 points, contributing 11 for her fifth consecutive double-figure scoring outing in as many games this season.
San Diego State trailed just twice on the afternoon, giving up the opening basket to UW's Regina Rogers and falling behind by one point on a lay-up at the 17:32 mark of the first half at 4-3. The Aztecs took the lead on a pair of Tutt free throws and had a two-possession advantage until going on a 13-5 run to jump ahead by double figures for the first time at 26-16. Following a timeout, the Huskies trimmed their deficit to eight three times, including at the break with the score 32-24.
Coming out of the locker room, the two sides traded baskets before Tutt sparked a 6-0 Aztec run with a jumper and a basket following a UW turnover to give her team a 14-point advantage at 40-26. The San Diego State lead would grow out to as many as 16 points at the 8:17 mark until Washington made a final push in the final four minutes on four lay-ups in the paint from Rogers to close to within eight at 57-49.
Sophomore Kiyana Stamps (Moreno Valley, Calif.) restored the SDSU lead into double figures just 21 seconds later and both Clements and Hopkins hit a pair of free throws each to close out the 63-51 victory.
SDSU shot just 30 percent in the second half and was 0-of-6 from beyond the arc in the final 20 minutes, but made 15 of its 19 free throw attempts (78.9 percent) for the game and owned a plus-12 advantage in the turnover department. The Aztecs' 4-1 start, which includes a 2-0 record at home, is the program's best since the 2007-08 squad also went 4-1.
Rogers finished the afternoon with a game-high 26 points on 12-for-18 shooting to go with 10 rebounds. She was the only Husky with more than seven points.
San Diego State will take to the road for two more contests against Pac-12 Conference members starting Wednesday at No. 25 UCLA. The Aztecs will then take on Washington State on Friday in Pullman, Wash. Both games are slated to tip off at 7 p.m. PT.