March 6, 2015
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RENO, Nev. - The San Diego State women's basketball team closed out its regular-season schedule in disappointing fashion Friday, falling to Nevada 50-44 in a Mountain West clash at Lawlor Events Center.
The Aztecs and Wolf Pack entered the game having secured their respective No. 7 and No. 10 seeds in next week's Mountain West Championship. As a result, the two sides will face each other once again in the opening round on Monday, March 9, starting at 4:30 p.m. PT at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nev.
Freshman McKynzie Fort (Fontana, Calif.) and senior Khristina Hunter (Fairfield, Calif.) combined for 33 of the team's 44 points on Friday, but little help came from the rest of the offense, as the Scarlet and Black drop to 11-18 on the season and 8-10 in conference play.
Despite sinking three more field goals than Nevada (17-14), SDSU came up empty from three-point range on six attempts and was out-rebounded by a 39-30 margin. On the other hand, the Wolf Pack (9-20, 5-13 MW) benefited from a 20-for-30 performance at the free-throw line, including a 17-for-25 clip in the second half to keep the Scarlet and Black at bay.
Individually, Fort led all scorers with a career-high tying 17 points, while Hunter added 16 points of her own on 7-of-9 shooting, In addition, junior Erimma Amarikwa (Vacaville, Calif.) got into the act with seven points and seven rebounds, while fellow classmate Ahjalee Harvey (Mountain View, Calif.) dished out a game-high seven assists.
Similar to the previous meeting between the two squads at Viejas Arena last month, Friday's contest quickly evolved into a defensive struggle, with the Aztecs mustering their biggest lead of the evening at 13-9, following a jumper by sophomore Chloe Johnson (Phoenix, Ariz.) with just under 11 minutes left in the first half.
However, SDSU was unable to find the bottom of the net for the remainder of the period, missing 13 of its next 14 shots from the field as Nevada strung together an 11-3 run to vault in front 20-16. Mimi Mungedi sparked the surge with consecutive baskets, while Aja Johnson soon followed with an old-fashioned three-point play.
The Wolf Pack was primed to take a four-point cushion into the locker room, but Amarikwa came up with a huge steal in the backcourt and drove in for a layup with just two seconds left on the clock to give the contest its 20-18 score at intermission.
Buoyed by their good fortune, the Aztecs uncorked an 8-3 blitz over the first three-plus minutes of the second half to vault in front 26-23 by the 16:45 mark. Hunter scored six points during the run, while Fort sailed in for a layup after her own steal.
However, Nevada responded with 11 straight points over the next 3:41, reclaiming the lead for good 34-26 after Aja Johson's layup at the 13:04 mark. SDSU was plagued by fouls during that stretch, and Nevada took full advantage, sinking seven of eight free throws, including three by Anna Cameron, who went 9-for-10 from the charity stripe to finish with 16 points.
Meanwhile, the Aztecs continued to lose ground over the ensuing six minutes, draining one field goal on just three attempts, while the Wolf Pack forged their largest lead of the contest at 40-30 on a layup with 7:03 remaining.
SDSU was able to cut the margin to four on four occasions in the final minute, including a 41-37 spread with 49 seconds to go on a bucket by Amarikwa, but could draw no closer. Nevada answered each visitor challenge with free throws, including a clutch 7-for-8 display by Cameron down the stretch, which secured the win.
In addition to Cameron's heroics, the Wolf Pack received 14 points from Aja Johnson, while Mungedi scored eight points and pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds before fouling out with 1:28 remaining.