Dec. 4, 2017
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- San Diego State's McKynzie Fort (Fontana, Calif.) has been named Mountain West Women's Basketball Player of the Week for a pair of exceptional performances in the Aztecs' recent victories over San Diego and Arizona. With her award, the SDSU senior collected her third career weekly award and the Aztecs' first of the season.
For the week, Fort averaged 25.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists while shooting a combined 60.7 percent from the field (17-28) and 78.9 percent from the free-throw line (15-19).
Against USD at home on Nov. 29, Fort led all players with 24 points on 10-for-16 shooting (62.5 percent), including the game-winning layup with eight seconds remaining to help the Aztecs snap a four-game losing streak against the Toreros in a dramatic 77-76 triumph. She also dished out a career-high eight assists in that contest and grabbed a team-best six rebounds.
Fort continued her stellar play at Arizona on Sunday, pouring in a game-high 26 points to go with six rebounds and two assists. The SDSU guard shot 58.3 percent from the floor (7-12) and tied her personal-best with an 11 free throws in 13 attempts.
With the Aztecs nursing a slim 69-67 lead late in the fourth quarter, Fort came up huge down the stretch, sinking seven of eight free throws to help seal the win while contributing to a defense that held the Wildcats scoreless over the final 3:05 of the game.
With her efforts, Fort has now surpassed the 20-point plateau 16 times in a Scarlet and Black uniform and moved into ninth place on SDSU's all-time scoring list with 1,355 career points.
Through seven games this year, Fort leads the MW with 17.4 points per game and ranks among the league leaders in field-goal percentage (8th, 48.4), assists (T-9th, 3.6/gm) and assist-to-turnover ratio (T-8th, 1.7). She also tops the squad with 10 steals and is tied for the team lead with 5.3 rebounds per contest.
Fort and the Aztecs open a three-game homestand on Friday, Dec. 8, when they play host to UC Irvine in a matinee at Steve Fisher Court, beginning at noon PT. SDSU's 5-2 record is the team's best seven-game start to a season since the 2007-08 squad opened with a 6-1 mark.