SAN DIEGO – The Aztec women's basketball team (12-17, 7-11) held off Nevada (11-18, 7-11) 64-61 on senior night to close out the regular season Thursday evening. With the win, the Aztecs secure the No. 7 seed in the Mountain West Tournament where they will play No. 10 Air Force Sunday at 4:30 p.m.
The Aztecs led by as much as 14 points in the second half and by nine in the fourth quarter only to see the Wolf Pack roar back and take a lead with 3:00 minutes left. The Aztecs retook the lead on a three from Najé Murray and after a series of defensive stops, Nevada had the ball under their hoop, down one, with 4.5 seconds left. They got the ball in to Terae Briggs, who scored 28 points on the night. After briefly being tied up by Murray, she spun into a hook shot which was denied by Zayn Dornstauder, who corralled the rebound and was fouled with 0.4 seconds left. Nevada didn't get a shot off after Dornstauder made both free throws.
"These kids are resilient, and they have been all year," head coach Stacie Terry said after the game. "To close out the regular season with a victory against a very good Nevada team is huge for us going into the conference tournament."
Murray scored a team-high 21 points on an efficient 8-for-10 shooting. Sophia Ramos had 14 points and dished out seven assists. Zayn Dornstauder tied a career-high with 11 rebounds and had the game-winning block.
Nevada jumped out to an 8-4 lead after converting three offensive rebounds into points prompting Coach Terry to call a timeout three minutes into the game. After a breather, the Aztecs refocused and went on a 9-2 run and shot 57 percent in the opening quarter.
Nevada had five turnovers and just five points in the first seven minutes in the second quarter. The Aztecs finished the first half on an 8-0 run and took a 38-26 lead into the locker room at the half.
The Aztecs scored the first bucket of the second half but then Wolf Pack stormed back into the game with an 11-0 run. SDSU bounced right back with a 7-0 run themselves to push the lead back to ten.
SDSU had a stretch of 6:30 minutes without a field goal in the fourth quarter, which was compounded by them committing six turnovers. A 12-1 Wolf Pack run gave Nevada their first lead since the first quarter.
The Aztecs responded with big buckets from Sophia Ramos and Murray and then had the game-winning defensive stop in the final seconds.
QUOTE OF THE GAME
"I joked today and said we're going to blow them out and win by five, but I was wrong, we won by three." – Head Coach Stacie Terry
STAT OF THE GAME
The Aztecs shot .636 (7-11) from three, their best percentage of the season.
THE NOTE
Najé Murray hit three more three-pointers and now has 72 on the year, No. 3 in school history. The school record is 77 held by Jamey Cox and Courtney Clements.
UP NEXT
The 7th-seeded Aztecs will play No. 10 Air Force Sunday at 4:30 p.m. The winner of that game will play No. 2 New Mexico Monday at 6:00 p.m. All games will take place at UNLV's Thomas and Mack Center.
Aztecs Close Out Season With 64-61 Win Over Nevada
