Dec. 11, 2016
The San Diego State women's basketball team used one of its best all-around offensive performances of the season to overpower UC Santa Barbara, 84-70, in non-conference action Sunday afternoon.
The Aztecs improve to 3-6 on the season, while the Gauchos fall to 2-6.
"The team is maturing and they're tired of losing," head coach Stacie Terry said. "This team is so resilient and after Michigan (on Friday), we watched all of our good plays and our bad plays and they were able to build on that to focus in on the fourth quarter and make sure they contested everything."
San Diego State was outstanding with the long balls, making 10 3-pointers in the game, its most since a 69-46 win over UC Santa Barbara on March 20, 2013 in the WNIT. Geena Gomez and Kymberly Ellison each had a trio of treys, while Lexy Thorderson and Cheyenne Greenhouse had a pair a piece.
"We've spent a lot of time offensively in practice, just making sure that we're getting great shots," Terry said. "What I thought we did a good job of today was creating for our teammates. When we would drive in the lane, we would find the open person and they were wide open, which takes some of the pressure off of making that shot. I thought we did a good job of sharing the ball and because of that, we had 14 assists."
Shooting 51 percent (26-for-51) from the floor, five Aztecs recorded double-digit point totals. McKynzie Fort's 18 points on five field goals and eight free throws was the team high, going alongside three assists. Thorderson notched a career-high 17 points, adding a season-best five boards. She matched her previous career-high of 12 points in the first half alone. Gomez also matched her career-best mark with 17 points. Greenhouse and Ellison posted 13 and 10 points, respectively, while Ariell Bostick was the team's top assist-getter with five.
"We started off the game with really good tempo," Thorderson said. "Obviously it helps if you can knock down the first shot; it helps your confidence. I think we did a really good job of making the extra pass and trying to get a really good shot every possession. Overall, we each did our part to be successful."
San Diego State opened the game with its highest scoring quarter of the season, notching 27 points in the first quarter. The Aztecs opened the game with a pair of layups by freshman Monique Terry and one by Fort. SDSU was able to shut out UC Santa Barbara for nearly three minutes to set the tone of the frame, eventually out-scoring its opponent in the frame, 27-22.
San Diego State faltered a bit in the second quarter, as the Gauchos put up 14 points to SDSU's 11, but the Scarlet and Black still took a narrow 38-36 advantage into halftime.
However, UC Santa Barbara was able to continue its upward trajectory in the third quarter, again out-scoring the Aztecs, this time by a 22-19 spread.
But the Aztecs displayed their resiliency down 58-57 at the end of the third quarter. San Diego State started off the frame with three consecutive 3-pointers and went on to out-score the Gauchos, 27-12, in the fourth quarter to secure its third win of the season.
Said Terry of the team's ability to battle back, "I thought they did a great job of recognizing the moment that Santa Barbara made a great run and knowing when it was time for us to make our run."
San Diego State is off until Thurs., Dec. 22 when the Aztecs visit Cal State Fullerton for a 5 p.m. game.