Jan. 23, 2015
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State women's basketball team continues its homestand on Saturday when it plays host to defending Mountain West regular-season champion Colorado State at Viejas Arena, beginning at 2 p.m. PT. The Aztecs-Rams showdown will be streamed live on GoAztecs.com via the Mountain West Network, with SDSU alumnus Chris Ello handling the play-by-play duties.
Saturday's contest has been designated Aztec Women's Basketball Alumni Appreciation Day, featuring on-court recognition of former SDSU players at halftime. The festivities will also include a postgame autograph session by current Aztec team members.
SDSU (6-11, 3-3 MW) is coming off its most complete game of the year after dispatching Air Force by a 70-47 count last Wednesday. The Aztec charge was led by junior Erimma Amarikwa (Vacaville, Calif.), who totaled 13 points, nine rebounds and three blocks, while freshmen McKynzie Fort (Fontana, Calif.) and Lexy Thorderson (Castle Rock, Colo.) finished with 12 points apiece. On the flip side, second-place CSU (13-4, 5-1 MW) has won five in a row and nine of its last 10, following a 77-59 home victory over San José State on Jan. 17.
SDSU will be looking to snap a two-game losing streak against the Rams. Last season, the Aztecs dropped a narrow 64-61 decision at Viejas Arena in the conference opener before suffering its most lopsided loss ever to CSU with a 95-48 defeat in Fort Collins.
Despite the setbacks, SDSU still maintains a 27-20 advantage in the all-time series, including a 16-6 mark in San Diego. Prior to last season, the Aztecs had won six of their last seven vs. the Rams in "America's Finest City" between 2007 and 2013.
Defense has typified the SDSU-CSU rivalry since 2000, with the winning team scoring over 70 points just seven times in the past 31 meetings. However, the Aztecs' last 100-point game occurred against the Rams in a 101-62 conquest 23 years ago at Peterson Gym on Jan. 25, 1992.
Entering the weekend, the Aztecs lead the Mountain West in three-point field-goal percentage defense (.275), which ranks 37th in the nation, and find themselves among the top half of the conference in rebounding defense (2nd - (35.5/gm)) and rebounding margin (5th - (+3.2)). Individually, Amarikwa occupies the ninth spot for all games in rebounding (6.6/gm) and free-throw percentage (.706). She also averaging 13.2 points per contest in league play, which ranks 10th.
Following Saturday's game, San Diego State hits the road next week for a pair of games at Fresno State (Jan. 28) and Utah State (Jan. 31).