Feb. 23, 2016
SAN DIEGO - The resurgent San Diego State women's basketball team looks to extend its season-long winning streak to five games on Wednesday when it squares off against Wyoming in a key Mountain West matchup at Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena. Opening tip is slated for 6:30 p.m. PT.
SDSU alumnus Chris Ello will handle the play-by-play duties for a live video stream available on GoAztecs.com courtesy of the MW Network.
SDSU (10-15, 5-9 MW) produced its largest scoring output of the year last Saturday in an 87-70 triumph over San José State en route to its fourth victory in a row. The Aztecs also posted season-highs of 33 field goals and an 87.5 percent clip at the free-throw line, while five players finished in double figures.
Agains the Spartans, senior Ahjalee Harvey (Mountain View, Calif.) led the way with 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting, followed by fellow classmate Deidra Smith (Aurora, Colo.), who logged her second career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while sophomore McKynzie Fort (Fontana, Calif.) tallied 14 points of her own to go with four steals. In addition, junior Kymberly Ellison (Columbus, Ga.) and sophomore Cheyenne Greenhouse (Riverside, Calif.) provided valuable contributions with 11 points apiece.
With four games left in the regular season, SDSU moved past Wyoming (12-13, 5-10 MW) into eighth place in the Mountain West standings as teams have already begun jockeying for seed positions in next month's MW Championship tournament. Just three games separate the fifth-place team New Mexico and the 10th-place squad Nevada. With its victory over SJSU, the Scarlet and Black remains a game behind Utah State for seventh place and a game-and-a-half in back of UNLV for the sixth spot.
Wednesday's encounter will be the 52nd meeting against the Cowgirls, who represent the Aztecs' third-most frequently played opponent in program history behind New Mexico and UNLV. Although Wyoming owns a slim 26-25 advantage in the all-time series, SDSU will be looking to sweep the Cowgirls for the first time since 2013 after posting an 84-77 road victory in the MW opener on Dec. 30.
The Aztecs are also 14-9 against Wyoming in San Diego and have won three of four in "America's Finest City," including a 57-54 nail-biter a year ago.
Individually, SDSU has been led by Fort, who occupies the fifth spot in the conference for all games in scoring (14.8 ppg) and is fourth in steals (2.2/gm). In addition, the 5-9 guard ranks ninth in free-throw accuracy (.708) and 12th in field-goal percentage (.464). Harvey, meanwhile, has landed in the seventh position this week with a .383 three-point field-goal percentage in league play and is tied for 15th with an average of 1.4 triples per game (19 overall). She is also averaging 11.5 points per contest in MW action.
In addition, Smith has found her range recently, connecting on 59 percent of her field-goal attempts over the past eight games (26-44), while sophomore Lexy Thorderson (Castle Rock, Colo.) is 11-22 from three-point territory in the Aztecs' last four contests.
Following Wednesday's engagement, San Diego State will hit the road for a Saturday showdown with Boise State on Feb. 27, starting at 2 p.m. MT/1 p.m. PT.