Dec. 28, 2016
SAN DIEGO -
San Diego State women's basketball produced one of its best defensive efforts of the season against Biola, holding the Eagles to a season-low 48 points in a 63-48 non-conference win Wednesday evening.
The win was the Aztecs' third straight, marking their longest win streak of the season. Biola's 48 points was the fewest allowed by SDSU this year, and its fewest allowed since a 62-44 win over Wyoming in the first round of the 2016 Mountain West Tournament.
In just her second game in the Scarlet and Black following a transfer from Washington, Khalia Lark got a career-high 14 points and nine rebounds. Ariell Bostick was a defensive powerhouse, posting a career-best 10 assists with seven rebounds. McKynzie Fort added recorded 14 points, while Lexy Thorderson grabbed a season-high five boards and Monique Terry produced eight points for her most as a collegian. Kymberly Ellison, who ranked second in the Mountain West with 24 made 3-pointers, made three against the Eagles for nine points.
Biola got the first score of the game on a long ball by Annie Park, but Ellison was able to match that on the next Aztec possession. SDSU then went over three minutes recording a point before Fort sparked the San Diego State offense. She knocked down a jumper from the front of the basket at 5:45, then followed that up 26 seconds later with a layup to put SDSU up, 9-8.
The Eagles were able to regain a lead at 10-9 before San Diego State went on a 7-0 run for a 16-12 lead after 10 minutes of play.
Lark opened scoring in the second quarter with a jumper from the top of the key and an 18-12 advantage. After a Biola 3-pointer, SDSU got a layup from Ellison and a Cheyenne Greenhouse free throw. But both teams found themselves unable to score, as the Eagles couldn't get a basket for 4:11 and the Aztecs were shut out for four minutes, when Geena Gomez dropped in a close-range jumper for the 23-17 score. Lark's jumper from the right edge of the key increased SDSU's lead to 25-17 with 2:21 to go.
A deep three from the right side of the basket by Lark put SDSU up, 28-19, at the end of the first half.
After a jumper by Biola, Terry and Fort added layups on back-to-back possessions for a 32-21 lead just over one minute into the second half. But the Eagles were able to go on a 7-2 run to cut the Aztecs' lead to 34-28 at 6:33.
Twenty-four seconds later, Greenhouse made a pair of free throws to stop Biola's roll, and Lark tacked on a layup to snatch back the double-digit lead for the Aztecs at 38-28. The Eagles made good on a 3-point play for the 38-31 score with exactly five minutes to go in the third quarter.
Bostick got her seventh assist of the game when she dished the ball to Terry at 2:24 for a 40-31 Aztec advantage. The pair duplicated the play less than a minute later for the 42-31 score at 1:31, which SDSU maintained through the end of the third quarter.
In the final frame, both teams had trouble finding the basket early on. Biola got a layup at 7:37 and the Aztecs didn't score until Ellison's long ball at 6:40. Fort followed that up with a jumper 25 seconds later to increase SDSU's lead to 47-33. But the Eagles were able to get a three at 5:43 for a 47-36 Aztec margin.
San Diego State stayed strong, however, and closed out the contest by out-scoring Biola, 16-12, for the final 63-48 win.
For the game, the Aztecs shot 47.3 percent (26-for-55) to the Eagles' 37.3 percent (19-for-51) and out-rebounded Biola, 35-29. SDSU committed 11 turnovers to Biola's 14, and was 6-for-22 from beyond the 3-point arc, as compared to its opponent's 6-for-27 pace.
San Diego State kicks off Mountain West play at New Mexico on Sat., Dec. 31 at 7 p.m. (MT).