Feb. 11, 2017
RENO, Nev. - San Diego State women's basketball was able to keep their Mountain West game with Nevada within reach for three quarters, but could not counteract a stupendous fourth quarter by the Wolfpack, dropping its game at Nevada, 88-65.
"Nevada dominated the glass, they dominated us and they deserved to win," head coach Stacie Terry said. "Our kids need to learn how to fight. We have fight in this team at moments but we have to be able to sustain it. We're giving up too many easy points. We have yet to play 40 minutes, and we have to figure this thing out."
The Scarlet and Black suffers its sixth-straight loss to drop to 3-9 in conference play and 8-15 overall. Nevada now matches SDSU's mark at 3-9 in MW play and 8-15 this season.
McKynzie Fort led her team in scoring and rebounds, getting 15 points and eight boards. Ariell Bostick served up a team-high five assists. Lexy Thorderson was 4-for-7 from 3-point range for 13 points, and Kymberly Ellison tacked on 10 points.
The contest kicked off with a tight battle, as the game was 9-8 in Nevada's favor after 5:25 ticked off. But the Wolfpack opened up the game midway through the frame, scoring six unanswered points to take a 15-8 lead at 2:47. The Aztecs were able to out-score Nevada, 6-4, to close out the first period on a pair of Cheyenne Greenhouse layups and a Bostick field goal, yet trailed 19-14 after 10 minutes.
Nevada used strong play beyond the 3-point arc to increase its margin in the second quarter, using a trio of long balls to win the period, 18-13, and take a 37-27 lead into the intermission.
San Diego State opened up the second half with a flourish. Thorderson drilled long balls on consecutive possessions to bring the game within six at 8:24. Fort added a layup 32 seconds later and, after a Wolfpack layup, Baylee Vanderdoes made good on a pair of shots from the charity stripe.
But the Scarlet and Black's shooting went cold, and the team was unable to make a field goal for the ensuing 6:45. Monique Terry was able to battle to a pair of layups in the final 1:07 of the period and SDSU trailed, 56-45, after 30 minutes of play.
In the fourth quarter, Stephanie Schmid caught fire for Nevada and scored 12 points on her own to open the frame, handing her team a 68-53 lead with 5:22 to go.
Fort, though, was able to cut the Nevada lead to seven with an outstanding individual effort. At 4:35, she deflected a pass and stole the ball just outside Nevada's 3-point arc, raced down the court and got the layup. On the next possession, she and Bostick applied great pressure to the Wolfpack, and Fort snatched the ball away and got a second layup.
Schmid, however, scored another 13 points on her own and the Wolfpack hit 10 of their final 10 shots to get the 88-65 win.
For the game, Nevada shot 50.8 percent from the field (30-for-59), while SDSU shot 41.1 percent (23-for-56) for the game. Nevada won the battle on the glass, 35-30, dished out more assists, 17-11, recorded more blocks, 4-0, and more steals, 11-7. The Wolfpack scored more points off turnovers, 22-16 and second chance points, 19-8.
San Diego State returns to Viejas Arena on Weds., Feb. 15 for a 6:30 p.m. contest against Utah State. The game will be the Aztecs' Military Appreciation Night. Anyone with a Military ID is eligible for two complimentary tickets to the game at the door.