March 5, 2015
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State women's basketball team will put the finishing touches on its regular-season schedule Friday when it travels to the Silver State to face Nevada, beginning at 6:30 p.m. PT.
A live audio stream of the Aztecs-Wolf Pack showdown will be available on GoAztecs.com, with SDSU alumnus Chris Ello calling the action courtside from Lawlor Events Center in Reno. In addition, Friday's matchup with feature streaming video courtesy of the Mountain West Network.
The two sides with also meet three days later in the first round of the MW Championship on March 9, after the Aztecs (11-17, 8-9 MW) clinched the No. 7 seed with an inspired 76-61 Senior Night victory over UNLV earlier in the week, while the Wolf Pack (8-20, 4-13) find themselves locked into the 10th position after suffering a tough 68-61 loss at first-place Colorado State. Game time for Monday's conference tournament opener is set for 4:30 p.m. PT at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
Against the Lady Rebels last Tuesday, SDSU exploded with a 26-9 outburst over a nine-minute span after intermission to break the game open. The Aztecs produced their highest second-half scoring total of the season with 50 points, highlighted by a sizzling 17-for-24 shooting performance (71 percent) in the period to fuel their win.
SDSU will be looking to string together consecutive victories for the second time this season on Friday after posting a three-game winning streak from Jan. 31-Feb. 7. During that stretch, the Aztecs knocked off Nevada by a 57-49 count at Viejas Arena in the last meeting between the two squads on Feb. 4.
With that result, SDSU owns a slim 7-5 advantage in the all-time series. However, the Wolf Pack have won three of five encounters in Reno, including an 84-65 decision last season. The two sides also faced one another in the quarterfinals of the 2014 MW tournament, with Nevada prevailing in a defensive struggle, 53-48.
Since joining the Mountain West, the Aztecs have played the same opponent in their regular-season finale and conference tournament opener on two previous occasions. In 2004, the Scarlet and Black dropped two straight against Utah to close off its season. However, SDSU emerged triumphant in a back-to-back set vs. UNLV in 2009, including a 71-63 victory in the league semifinals. Despite falling to Utah the following day in the championship finals, the Aztecs earned an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament that season, advancing to the second round.
Entering the weekend, SDSU leads the MW in rebounding defense (34.8/gm) and occupies the second spot in three-point field-goal percentage defense (.288), which is 65th in the nation. In addition, the Aztecs rank third in rebounding margin (+3.6) and are sixth in scoring defense (62.5/gm).
Individually, Erimma Amarikwa finds herself in the fourth position for all games in both overall rebounds (7.2/gm) and offensive rebounds (2.7/gm) and is ninth in free-throw percentage (.675). In league play, the 6-1 forward is averaging 7.8 boards per contest, which ranks third, while her scoring average of 12.2 points per game is 13th.