Jan. 21, 2012
USAF ACADEMY, COLO. - The San Diego State women's basketball team posted its 10th consecutive victory Saturday by rallying from a four-point second-half deficit to knock off host Air Force 75-62 at Clune Arena. With the win, the first-place Aztecs have started their Mountain West Conference schedule at 4-0 for the first time in the league's 13-year history and improved their overall record to 14-4. The Falcons, meanwhile, dropped to 5-14 and 0-4 in MWC play.
SDSU junior Courtney Clements (Long Beach, Calif.) recorded her first career double-double with a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds in shooting nearly 54 percent from the field (7-of-13) and 60 percent (3-of-5) from beyond the arc. Junior point guard Chelsea Hopkins (Las Vegas, Nev.) notched 10 of her 19 points at the free-throw line, while adding seven assists, six boards and five of the team's 12 steals. After being limited to only two points in the first half, redshirt sophomore Kiyana Stamps (Moreno Valley, Calif.) ended up with 15 and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe.
The afternoon got underway with the Aztecs missing their first four shots and Air Force turning the ball over on each of its first two possessions. SDSU started the scoring with a basket by Clements which was matched by a jumper from Falcon Alicia Leipprandt. A pair of Clements free throws began a 5-0 Aztec run for a 7-2 lead and the visitors jumped ahead by as many as nine at the 11:30 mark with the help of a pair of triples from freshman Ahjalee Harvey (Mountain View, Calif.).
From there, Air Force began to get red hot shooting, taking the lead for the first time at the 7:02 mark at 24-23. The schools traded advantages five more times as the Falcons were up 32-30 at the break with the help of a 59.1 first-half field-goal percentage and SDSU being unable to make a bucket for the final 6:01.
San Diego State moved back ahead on a 3-pointer by Stamps coming out the locker room, but Air Force immediately stormed back with two straight baskets from Dymond James and a triple out of the right corner for its largest lead of the afternoon at 39-35.
The Aztecs did not let the deficit get any larger as a Clements jumper put them up by one with 13:51 left and back-to-back scores from Hopkins swung the game back in SDSU's favor at 47-43.
Just as the rest of the afternoon had gone, Air Force responded and it was just a one-point game at 52-51with less than six minutes remaining in the game. SDSU made good on six consecutive trips to the free-throw line in less than a minute and a half to kick off an 11-0 run and a 63-53 advantage. The Aztecs went up by as many as 15 points before settling for the hard-fought 75-62 victory.
San Diego State committed just 10 turnovers for the second outing a row, matching as the team's fewest in a game since December 2007. The squad also made 90 percent of its free-throw opportunities in the second half (18-for-20) and finished 24-for-30 overall. Air Force, meanwhile, shot over 51 percent from the field and 75 percent from beyond the arc, but could not overcome its 23 turnovers.
The Falcons were led by Dymond James' 19 points and game-high 11 rebounds, while Megan O'Neil had 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting off the bench.
San Diego State returns to Viejas Arena for a two-game homestand next week as the team plays host to Wyoming on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. PT and Colorado State on Saturday at Noon.