Nov. 27, 2015
SAN DIEGO - Fueled by the sophomore duo of McKynzie Fort (Fontana, Calif.) and Lexy Thorderson (Castle Rock, Colo.), who combined for 32 points, the San Diego State women's basketball team recorded its first victory of the 2015-16 campaign Friday with a 64-54 triumph over North Dakota State in the SDSU Thanksgiving Classic at Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena.
Fort scored 20 points on a career-high 10-for-12 shooting performance to go with a personal-best five steals, while Thorderson matched her collegiate high with 12 points after draining 4 of 7 attempts from three-point range to help the Aztecs (1-4) put the brakes on a four-game losing skid. The Scarlet and Black also received a game-high six assists from sophomore Geena Gomez (Huntington Beach, Calif.), while Ahjalee Harvey (Mountain View, Calif.) contributed eight points and three rebounds.
Despite a 35-30 deficiency on the boards and an 8-for-17 performance at the free-throw line, SDSU converted 22 Bison turnovers into 26 points and outscored the visitors' bench 29-6 to win going away. In addition, the Aztecs connected on a season-best 48.1 percent of their field-goal attempts (26-54), while the Bison (2-3) shot 39.6 percent from the floor, including an 0-for-10 streak from beyond the arc.
Still, the two teams battled through eight ties and three lead changes at the outset until SDSU fashioned an 11-2 spurt late in the second quarter to break a 20-20 deadlock. A jumper by junior transfer Kylie Herd (Phoenix, Ariz.) put the Aztecs in front for good, while Harvey capped the run with a nifty layup to give the host school a 31-22 advantage by intermission.
The Aztecs extended the margin to double digits on a Fort layup in the opening minute of the third quarter before NDSU tallied eight of the game's next 10 points to pull within 35-30 by the 6:23 mark of the period. However, Thorderson responded with her final triple of the night to ignite a crucial 12-4 run over a span of 4:15 that provided SDSU its largest lead of the evening at 47-34. Sophomore Cheyenne Greenhouse (Riverside, Calif.) scored six points during that stretch as the Bison shot themselves in the foot with four turnovers and misfired on 5 of 7 attempts from the floor.
NDSU got as close as seven points in the fourth quarter at 51-44 following a jumper by Marena Whittle with 5:50 left on the clock. However, senior Deidra Smith (Aurora, Colo.) converted a layup on SDSU's next possession and added a free throw just over a minute later to restore the Aztecs' double-digit advantage and stymie the Bison's comeback hopes.
Taylor Thunstedt led NDSU with 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting, while Brianna Jones (12 rebounds), Emily Spier and Marena Whittle finished with 10 points apiece in the loss.
The Aztecs will close off their weekend tournament on Sunday when they lock horns with Wisconsin starting at 2:30 p.m. PT. The contest will be preceded by the NDSU-Delaware clash, which gets underway at noon. The Badgers (2-2) held on to defeat Delaware 54-52 in the first game of the Thanksgiving Classic on Friday.