Dec. 7, 2015
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - Sophomore Lexy Thorderson (Castle Rock, Colo.) drilled the go-ahead basket on a three-pointer from the right wing with 9.4 seconds remaining, as the San Diego State women's basketball team recorded a riveting 67-65 comeback victory over CSUN on Monday at the Matadome. With the victory, the Aztecs improve to 3-5 on the year, while the Matadors fall to 1-8 overall.
SDSU trailed 41-30 with 8:22 left in the third quarter before unleashing a 12-0 run to get back into contention. From this juncture, the game turned into a see-saw affair, with two sides battling through six ties and five lead changes for the remainder of the contest.
The Aztecs eventually built a 63-57 advantage following a jumper by sophomore McKynzie Fort (Fontana, Calif.) with 2:42 remaining and had a chance to extend the margin after a steal by senior Ahjalee Harvey (Mountain View, Calif.). However, the Scarlet and Black missed two layups on the ensuing possession, while CSUN's Tessa Boagni hit a basket at the 2:09 mark to spark an 8-0 outburst that put the host school up 65-63. The Matadors' Claudia Ramos capped the run by sinking one of two foul shots with 17.9 seconds to go, setting up Thorderson's heroics.
With SDSU clinging to a precarious 66-65 lead following a CSUN timeout, Boagni got free underneath the basket but was unable to control the inbounds pass cleanly on her way to the rim. Junior Ariell Bostick (Oakland, Calif.) gained possession after a mad dash for the ball and hit one of two free throws following a foul at mid-court to secure the win.
The Aztecs were led by Fort, who finished with a game-high 18 points and dished out three assists, while fellow classmate Cheyenne Greenhouse (Riverside, Calif.) totaled 11 points of her own, followed by Thorderson's 10-point effort, which included a pair of treys.
Conversely, CSUN was paced by Ramos' 14 points and five assists, while Boagni and Serafina Maulupe contributed 11 points each in the loss.
SDSU trailed by as many as 10 points late in the first quarter, but Harvey sank a three-ball as the horn sounded at the end of the period to ignite a 15-6 run. Fort punctuated the outburst with a pair of free throws to narrow the gap to 28-27 by the 3:52 mark of the second stanza. However, the Aztecs turned the ball over on their next five possessions and made just one foul shot down the stretch, as the Matadors took a 34-28 lead into the locker room.
Both teams connected on 24 field goals for the evening, including a trio of three-pointers for each side. In addition, the free-throw shooting was nearly equal, with SDSU sinking 16 of 27 attempts from the foul line (59.3 percent), while CSUN went 14 for 23 from the charity stripe (60.9 percent).
However, the Matadors turned the ball over 11 times in the second half, while the Aztecs committed just four miscues during that span.
San Diego State jumps back into action on Thursday, Dec. 10, when it returns to Los Angeles to face Loyola Marymount, starting at noon PT.