Jan. 11, 2012
The San Diego State women's basketball team used an 18-0 run in the second half to turn a one-point deficit into a 17-point lead as the Aztecs went on to claim a 61-46 victory over TCU in both sides 2012 Mountain West Conference openers Wednesday at Viejas Arena. SDSU improved to 11-4 overall and 1-0 in league action by earning its seventh consecutive win, while the Horned Frogs dropped their third in a row to fall to 7-9 and 0-1.
"Everyone contributed tonight and that's what it's going to take to be successful," said Aztec head coach Beth Burns. "The difference in this year's team is the way we can rebound the ball. We got a lot of two-for-ones, which was and has been a big part of our game. It was just huge for us to be able to put this victory in our pocket against a really good TCU team and program. It will give us that much more confidence, because it's going to be a tough out in Vegas (on Saturday)."
In her first career Mountain West game, Aztec point guard Chelsea Hopkins (Las Vegas, Nev.) posted her second career double-double with 17 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. She also notched six of the squad's 12 assists and came away with three steals in 33 minutes of action. Classmate Kiyana Stamps (Moreno Valley, Calif.) notched all but one of her 16 points in the second half, while freshman Chairese Culberson (Oakland, Calif.) came off the bench to record eight points and eight rebounds.
Neither side shot the ball well in the first half, as the squads didn't notch the first field goal of the game until the 16:01 mark on a triple by TCU's Whitney Williams. The two squads were tied five times and traded leads on eight occasions until San Diego State put together a 6-0 run on three consecutive baskets in the paint by Hopkins for an 18-13 advantage. The Horned Frogs got that deficit down to only one with 4:51 remaining, but the Aztecs finished on an 8-3 run to go into the locker room in front, 26-20.
Out of the break, TCU scored the first seven points of the second half to jump ahead 27-26 and also enjoyed a one-point advantage at 29-28. From there, the Aztecs utilized a jumper from the left block by senior Kalena Tutt (Long Beach, Calif.) to kick start what would be an 18-0 run and a 46-29 lead as the Horned Frogs went scoreless for just over six minutes. SDSU were up by as many as 19 points, before eventually settling for a 15-point victory at 61-46 over the preseason favorite to win the league title.
The Aztecs shot over 46 percent from the field in the second half and made 16 of their 20 free throws (80 percent) for the game while holding TCU to just a 25.5 shooting percentage. SDSU posted a double-figure rebounding margin for the seventh game in a row (49-31) to start a league campaign at 1-0 for the third time in the last four seasons.
The Horned Frogs were led by Antoinette Thompson's 13 points and seven rebounds, while Whitney Williams contributed nine points and three of her team's four 3-pointers on the night.
San Diego State plays outside the state of California for the first time since Dec. 2 as it travels to Las Vegas on Saturday for a 3 p.m. PT meeting with UNLV at Cox Pavilion.