Feb. 13, 2015
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State women's basketball team looks to return to the win column on Saturday when it squares off against Colorado State, starting at 2 p.m. MT/ 1 p.m. PT in Fort Collins, Colo.
A live audio stream of the Aztecs-Rams clash will be available on GoAztecs.com with SDSU alumnus Chris Ello handling the play-by-play responsibilities courtside from Moby Arena. In addition, Saturday's matchup will feature streaming video courtesy of the Mountain West Network.
The Aztecs had their three-game winning streak snapped in a tough 74-66 loss at Wyoming on Wednesday. Despite a career-high 17 points from freshman McKynzie Fort (Fontana, Calif.), SDSU was unable to overcome nine 3-pointers by the Cowgirls, who employed a 22-6 run during a span of seven minutes in the second half to help fuel their victory. Meanwhile, the Rams are coming off a 67-40 defeat at New Mexico in their last outing.
Despite the loss on Wednesday, the Aztecs have sharpened their defense over the past seven games, yielding just 53.6 points per outing while limiting the opposition to a .354 field-goal percentage, including a .276 clip on 3-pointers. During that stretch, SDSU has also averaged 8.4 steals per contest and has maintained a plus-4.5 advantage on offensive rebounds.
In addition, the Aztecs have cleaned up their ball-handling recently, especially over the last four games, committing 4.5 fewer turnovers than their opponents while outscoring foes 62-42 off those miscues. Prior to its visit to Utah State on Jan. 31, SDSU was minus-5 in turnover department, averaging nearly 20 giveaways per outing.
The defensive trend may continue on Saturday, since the winning team in the Aztecs-Rams rivalry has scored over 70 points just seven times in the past 32 games dating back to 2000, including a 49-36 CSU victory at Viejas Arena in the last meeting between the two schools on Jan. 24. In that contest, SDSU held the Rams scoreless over the final eight minutes, but were unable to dig itself out of a 19-point hole, as the visitors drained eight triples to keep the Scarlet and Black at bay.
Despite the outcome, the Aztecs still own a 27-21 edge in the all-time series. However, CSU holds a 12-10 advantage in Fort Collins, including a 95-48 triumph last season, which marked the Rams' highest point-total and largest margin of victory ever against SDSU.
As a team, the Aztecs occupy the second spot in the MW in three-point field goal percentage defense (.280), which is 36th in the nation, and rank among the top half of the conference in rebounding defense (3rd - 35.5/gm), rebounding margin (4th - (+3.3)) and offensive rebounds (5th - 14.1/gm). Individually, junior Erimma Amarikwa (Vacaville, Calif.) finds herself in the sixth spot for all games in free-throw percentage (.707) and is seventh in rebounding (7.0/gm). In league play, she is averaging 7.8 boards per contest, which ranks fourth, while her scoring average of 13.2 points per game is tied for 10th.
After locking horns with CSU, San Diego State will return to Viejas Arena next week to open a two-game homestand, facing New Mexico (Feb. 18) and San José State (Feb. 21).