Jan. 21, 2015
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SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State women's basketball team posted its largest victory margin of the season on Wednesday with a methodical 70-47 decision over Air Force in a Mountain West game at Viejas Arena. The Aztecs employed a 14-0 run through intermission to take control of the game and improve to 6-11 on the year and 3-3 in conference play.
SDSU received double-digit scoring efforts from three players, led by junior Erimma Amarikwa (Vacaville, Calif.), who turned in an all-round effort with 13 points, nine rebounds and a season-high three blocks. In addition, freshmen McKynzie Fort (Fontana, Calif.) and Lexy Thorderson (Castle Rock, Colo.) got into the act with 12 points apiece, while junior Deidra Smith (Aurora, Colo.) totaled six points, seven rebounds and a career-high tying three assists.
Thorderson broke out of a season-long 1-for-20 shooting slump from three-point range with a 4-for-6 effort on Wednesday, as the Aztecs connected on 42.4 percent of their field-goal attempts (25-59) while limiting the Falcons to a 28.6 percent clip (16-56) from the floor.
SDSU also committed a season-low nine turnovers and maintained a 32-12 advantage in the paint to help knock off the Falcons (1-17, 0-7 MW) for the 11th straight time.
With the score tied at 7-7, the Aztecs scored 10 straight points over a span of four minutes to build a 17-7 bulge by the 11:34 mark of the first half. Junior Ahjalee Harvey (Mountain View, Calif.) converted a pair of baskets during that stretch, while Air Force misfired on five shots from the field.
The Falcons gradually trimmed the deficit in half over the ensuing 10 minutes, pulling to within 24-19 on consecutive jumpers by Madeleine Philpot and Jimi Blagowsky. However, Fort single-handedly snuffed out the Air Force surge in the final minute of the period with a bucket and a layup off her own steal to give the contest its 28-19 score at halftime.
SDSU continued the run after the break with 10 points in a row, capped by Thorderson's back-to-back triples, to build an insurmountable 38-19 advantage with less than four minutes elapsed in the period.
The Falcons were unable to draw any closer than 14 points the rest of the way after a three-pointer by Lindsey Lewis pulled the visitors to within 48-34 at the 8:27 mark. The Aztecs quickly countered with a 14-4 spurt over the next two-and-a-half minutes, highlighted by two additional Thordersen three-pointers and four free throws by freshman Cheyenne Greenhouse (Riverside, Calif.), to all but extinguish Air Force's faint comeback hopes.
Blagowsky led all scorers with 15 points, while Lewis added 12 points in the loss. The Falcons also received eight rebounds from Philpot, while Cortney Porter tied SDSU sophomore Ariell Bostick (Oakland, Calif.) for game-high honors with four assists.
The Aztecs resume their homestand on Saturday when they welcome second-place Colorado State to Viejas Arena for a 2 p.m. PT tipoff. The Rams (13-4, 5-1 MW) were idle on Wednesday night.