News & Notes
• The Aztecs will be on the road this week for their first two games away from Viejas Arena. On Tuesday, they play at Santa Clara at 3:00 p.m. and they battle Cal State Fullerton Thursday evening at 7:00 p.m.
• Chris Ello (12th season) will once again be the voice of the Aztecs for all home and road contests. He will have an audio only call of both games. Additionally, both games will be streamed by the respective home schools.
• The Aztecs earned a 58-57 win in their season opener against Hawai'i last Friday. Téa Adams, who had a team-high 15 points, scored the game-winning bucket with seven seconds left on a difficult driving lay-in.
• Najé Murray and freshman Sophia Ramos also had double-digits, with each of them scoring 14 points.
• Téa Adams, who entered the year with zero career starts, also led the Aztecs in scoring in their exhibition game against Biola, pouring in 18 points.
• The Aztecs started two freshmen, two sophomores and one junior against Hawai'i. That group had a combined 33 career starts entering the game.
• The freshmen duo of Sophia Ramos and Mallory Adams earned the starting nod in the season opener, marking the first time two freshmen started the season opener for the Aztecs since 2003 (Michelle Elliott and Courtney Fritz).
• The starting backcourt trio of Téa Adams, Najé Murray and Sophia Ramos all played at least 35 minutes and combined to score 20 of the Aztecs' 26 second half points in their season-opening win vs. Hawai'i.
• Despite the heavy load of minutes for the backcourt, the Aztecs played nine players with all of them entering the game by the end of the first quarter.
• Zayn Dornstauder had an impressive game in her first regular season game as an Aztec, scoring nine points and grabbing six rebounds. The 6'3" redshirt junior from Canada, started her career at the University of San Francisco and spent last year at Ball State, redshirting.
Last Time Out (vs. Hawai'i - 11-9-18)
The Aztec women's basketball team knocked off Hawai'i 58-57 in their season opener Friday afternoon inside Viejas Arena. Téa Adams hit a difficult driving lay-in to give the Aztecs the lead with seven seconds left and then SDSU got a stop on the other side of the floor to secure the victory.
"This win means a lot, especially for this team," Head Coach Stacie Terry said after the game "To be able to win a game, early on, tight like this, is only going to help us grow because we can go back and say we've been in these situations and this is what we'd like to do. We're still young and trying to figure it out. Every single win is going to be cherished this year, so this is a huge momentum builder. Hawai'i is a very good team, and I know there 0-2, but they're better than that."
Adams led the Aztecs with 15 points, going 7-for-13 from the field, and hauled in six rebounds. Najé Murray and freshman Sophia Ramos also had double-digits, with each of them scoring 14 points.
The Aztecs led for the majority of the game, but saw their lead slip away in the fourth quarter after a cold stretch of shooting. Hawai'i took their first lead of the second half with 1:27 left, going up 57-56.
The Aztecs got the ball back with 35 seconds left to set up Adams' heroics. She took the ball at the top of the key with six seconds on the shot clock and drove to her left and scored on a runner through traffic with second seconds left. SDSU played lock down defense on the ensuing possession to hold of Hawai'i.
After a slow start for both teams to start the game, the Hawai'i duo of Makenna Woodfolk and Julissa Tago started to heat up, scoring 17 of UH's first 19 points to give them a three point lead. The Aztecs then responded with a 13-2 run before eventually taking a seven point lead in to the locker room at the half after Murray hit a three at the buzzer.
SDSU built their lead up to 11 midway through the third quarter, but Hawai'i began the fourth quarter on a 13-4 run to close the gap.
"[Hawai'i] changed their lineup. They went small with their five-guard lineup," Coach Terry said. "We had two bigs in there and some of those kids got free shooting threes like number 12 and 35, who are essentially big guards. Their lineup change really affected us, so we had to finally figure it out and go small as well, so we could match up better defensively. Once we did that, I think we did a better job getting back into it."
The Aztecs had just three field goals and six turnovers in the fourth quarter but made the clutch buckets down the stretch to earn the victory.
Noting the Hawai'i Game
• Najé Murray and freshman Sophia Ramos also had double-digits, with each of them scoring 14 points.
• Téa Adams, who entered the year with zero career starts, also led the Aztecs in scoring in their exhibition game against Biola, pouring in 18 points.
• The Aztecs started two freshmen, two sophomores and one junior against Hawai'i. That group had a combined 33 career starts entering the game.
• The freshmen duo of Sophia Ramos and Mallory Adams earned the starting nod in the season opener, marking the first time two freshmen started the season opener for the Aztecs since 2003 (Michelle Elliott and Courtney Fritz).
• The starting backcourt trio of Téa Adams, Najé Murray and Sophia Ramos all played at least 35 minutes and combined to score 20 of the Aztecs' 26 second half points in their season-opening win vs. Hawai'i.
• Despite the heavy load of minutes for the backcourt, the Aztecs played nine players with all of them entering the game by the end of the first quarter.
• Zayn Dornstauder had an impressive Aztec debut, notching career highs with nine points and six rebounds. The 6'3" redshirt junior from Canada, started her career at USF and spent last year at Ball State redshirting.
Preseason Notes
• The Aztecs were picked to finish ninth in the Mountain West preseason poll.
• The Aztecs lost four starters and six players total from a year ago. The Aztecs return just 34.6 percent of their scoring from last season.
• Najé Murray (Stockton, Calif.), who was named to the Mountain West all-freshman team last year, is the Aztecs' leading returning scorer (9.3 ppg). She led all MW freshmen in three-pointers made per game and was fourth overall in scoring among freshmen.
• The support from the community was record-breaking a season ago. The Aztecs had 22,069 fans over their 16 home games for an average of 1,379. That broke the total and average attendance records set in 2007-08, when the Aztecs drew 14,730 fans for an average of 1,133 per game.
• The Aztecs have had a winning record at home in 10 of the past 12 seasons.
• The Aztecs shot 71.4 percent from the free throw line last year, their best mark since the 1988-89 season and the fourth best rate in program history.
• The Aztecs made 200 three-pointers last season, the second most in program history (204, 2016-17). They made 33.7 percent of their three-point attempts, their best percentage since the 2009-10 season and the fourth best rate in program history
• For the second straight season San Diego State's incoming freshman class is nationally ranked. The Aztecs' 2018 recruiting class is ranked 59th nationally (according to Prospects Nation), fourth in the Mountain West. G/F Mallory Adams (Frisco, Texas), G Jayden Perez (Las Cruces, N.M.) and G Sophia Ramos (San Antonio, Texas) comprise the freshmen class.
• Transfers Zayn Dornstauder (Ball State) and Taylor Kalmer (Oregon State) will also join the Aztecs this year, although Kalmer will sit out the 2018-19 season due to NCAA transfer rules. Dornstauder, a 6'3" center from Canada, redshirted at Ball State last year after playing two years at San Francisco as a reserve. Kalmer, a 5'8" guard, spent her past three years at Pac-12 powerhouse Oregon State where she averaged a career-high 6.0 points per game last season.
Scouting the Broncos
• Santa Clara is 2-0 on the young season. They beat Sonoma State in their season opener 98-38 and then knocked off Nevada 56-48 on Saturday.
• Tia Hay is averaging 22.5 points through the first two games and is shooting 54.3 percent from the field (19-for-35). She had 24 points in their win vs. Nevada on Saturday.
• Ashlyn Herlihy is averaging 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds per game.
• Lauren Yearwood has eight blocks so far on the season. She had nine rebounds against Nevada.
• The Broncos had 17 assists on 23 made baskets vs. Nevada.
• The Broncos have allowed their opponent to make just three of their 26 three-point attempts.
• Santa Clara has a rebound margin of +9.5 through two games.
• Head Coach Bill Carr is in his third year at Santa Clara. Prior to coming to Santa Clara, he was the head men's coach at Point Loma Nazarene.
All-Time Series vs. Santa Clara
• The Aztecs are 1-2 all-time against the Broncos.
• Their first meeting was December 14, 1981, a 65-48 home win.
• Last year the Broncos defeated the Aztecs 48-34 in Viejas Arena. The 34 points were the fewest the Aztecs have scored all year.
• This will the first game the Aztecs have played at Santa Clara.
• The Aztecs are 77-68 all-time against the WCC.