Nov. 6, 2015
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SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State women's basketball team used balanced scoring and a strong interior presence to key its 76-61 victory over Point Loma in an exhibition game Friday night at Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena. The Aztecs led throughout the contest, save for a 2-2 tie, in the team's first game under the new NCAA format featuring four 10-minute quarters.
Four SDSU players finished in double figures, led by senior Deidra Smith's (Aurora, Colo.) 16 points, while freshman Arantxa Gomez Ferrer (Valencia, Spain) enjoyed a spectacular debut for the Scarlet and Black with 14 points on 7-8 shooting. Senior Ahjalee Harvey (Mountain View, Calif.) also got into the act with 11 points and tied for game-high honors with five assists, while sophomore McKynzie Fort (Fontana, Calif.) chipped in 10 points of her own.
As a team, the Aztecs shot 47.6 percent from the field on 30 of 63 field-goal attempts and drained a crisp 81.3 percent of their free throws to help vanquish the plucky Sea Lions, who connected on just 5 of 8 tries from the charity stripe to go along with a 40.4 percent clip from the floor. In addition, SDSU outscored the visitors in the paint by a 38-22 margin and maintained a 31-7 spread in bench points.
With SDSU nursing a precarious 12-10 lead in the first quarter after a three-pointer by Point Loma's Roya Rustamzada, the host school seized the momentum with an 11-2 blitz over the final 5:24 of the period to grab a 23-12 advantage. Junior Ariell Bostick (Oakland, Calif.) scored five points during the run, while sophomore Cheyenne Greenhouse (Riverside, Calif.) and junior transfer Kylie Herd (Phoenix, Ariz.) scored on consecutive layups.
The Sea Lions cut the deficit to five on two occasions in the second quarter, but the Aztecs seemingly had an answer for every potential threat by the visitors. Gomez Ferrer got free underneath for three timely layups, while Harvey scored five points on a tough jumper from the right wing, followed by a triple with 55 seconds remaining in the frame. Then with just 0.2 seconds left on the clock, Fort was fouled and subsequently drained two free throws to give SDSU a 40-29 cushion at the break.
Point Loma twice managed to narrow the gap to five in the third quarter, including a 55-50 spread with 2:50 remaining on a three-pointer by Madison West, who led all scorers with 18 points. However, the Aztecs tallied the last six points of the stanza on layups by Harvey and Gomez Ferrer, sandwiched around a pair of free throws by Smith, to restore SDSU's double-digit margin at 61-50.
The Aztecs limited the Sea Lions to just four free throws by Amy Ogren during a five-and-a-half minute stretch of the fourth quarter, while Gomez Ferrer and Fort added two baskets apiece to provide SDSU a 69-54 bulge. Point Loma responded with a triple by West and a layup by Alex Brunk to pull within 69-59 at the 3:22 mark of the final period. However, another Fort jumper and a triple by sophomore Lexy Thorderson (Castle Rock, Colo.) all but extinguished the Sea Lions' comeback hopes.
In addition, to West's performance, which included a 4-for-9 clip from three-point range, Point Loma received 17 points from Rustamzada, while Brunk added 13 points and tied the Aztecs' Bostick for game-high honors with six rebounds.
San Diego State officially opens its regular-season campaign next Friday, Nov. 13, when it travels to Long Beach State. Game time from the Walter Pyramid is set for 7 p.m. PT.