Dec. 16, 2012
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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - Seniors Chelsea Hopkins and Courtney Clements scored 17 points each to lead the visiting San Diego State women's basketball team to a 73-56 victory over Cal Poly Sunday in Mott Gym.
The Aztecs also received double-digit scoring totals from senior Malia Nahinu (13 pts.) and junior Danesha Long (10 pts.) to help raise their record to 6-3 on the season, while the Mustangs slip to 5-4 overall.
Hopkins narrowly missed a triple-double, finishing with 10 rebounds and nine assists to go along with a career-high tying eight field goals, while Clements grabbed six boards and dished out three helpers of her own.
As a team, SDSU logged its best field-goal percentage of the season (.552) after connecting on 32 of 58 shots, while Cal Poly was just 24 of 61 from the floor (.393), including a 1-for-8 clip over the final 4:39 of the first half, when the Aztecs erupted with a timely 13-2 blitz to turn a tight ballgame into a 40-27 advantage by halftime.
SDSU led throughout, save for a 2-2 tie, eventually building a 27-19 cushion following a jumper by junior Kiyana Stamps with 6:35 left before intermission. The Mustangs answered with a triple by Jonae Ervin, while Caroline Reeves capped off an old-fashioned three-point play shortly thereafter to narrow the gap to 27-25 at the 4:39 mark. However, the Aztecs gave themselves some breathing room heading into the locker room with the aforementioned run, featuring a pair of 3-pointers by Long and another by Clements.
SDSU extended the margin to 18 on five occasions during the first four minutes of the second half, including a 53-35 spread at the 16:15 mark after another basket by Clements, who finished the game with eight field goals on 16 attempts. Cal Poly quickly whittled the deficit to 12 with 14:47 to go, following a Nikol Allison jumper and consecutive buckets by Ariana Elegado. However, the host school could draw no closer, as Clements and Hopkins found the bottom of the net on back-to-back possessions to give the Aztecs a 57-42 advantage just over a minute later.
Despite outscoring SDSU 40-38 in the paint and maintaining a 16-8 edge on the offensive glass, the Mustangs were just 7-for-18 from the free-throw line and were out-rebounded on the defensive end, 27-19.
Allison finished with 16 points to lead Cal Poly, while Brittany Woodard pulled down a game-high 12 boards in the loss.
The Aztecs will return to the court on Wednesday, Dec. 19, when they play host to Fresno Pacific in Viejas Arena, starting at 5 p.m. PT.