SAN DIEGO – The Aztec women's basketball team (10-13, 5-6) won a thriller 75-74 over New Mexico (12-11, 3-7) Wednesday afternoon in front of a record-breaking crowd of 5,320 fans.
The Aztecs led by eight points with 25 seconds left only to see New Mexico go on a 9-0 run in a 16-second span due to a pair of controversial non-calls that led to turnovers and Lobo three-pointers. After New Mexico took the lead with nine seconds left, Jordan Hosey mistakenly fouled Sophia Ramos with five seconds left. The sophomore from San Antonio calmly knocked down both free throws and then SDSU got a defensive stop in the final seconds to hold on for the dramatic victory.
"We were very lucky down the stretch," head coach Stacie Terry-Hutson said after the game. "There was a series of unfortunate events that happened to us back-to-back, but we really fought and put ourselves in a position to win the game long before that last minute."
Ramos led the Aztecs with 32 points and 11 rebounds, both career-highs, and was a perfect 16-for-16 from the free throw line. Her 16 made free throws tied a school record set by Tina Hutchinson 36 years ago (1-10-84 vs. CS Fullerton).
"I thought Sophia played a great game today," Terry-Hutson said. "She did a lot of things: she was a steady hand for us, she scored the ball when she needed to and controlled the pace when she needed to. She's growing up in front of your eyes. She's maturing into a really, really good basketball player who can attack people from different levels."
It was a forgettable first quarter for the Aztecs who fell behind 9-2 in the opening minutes and allowed a season-high 26 first quarter points. SDSU turned the ball over six times and saw the Lobos go 11-for-17 from the field as they fell behind 26-14, in what would be New Mexico's largest lead of the game.
After shooting 65 percent (11-17) in the first quarter, the Aztecs held the Lobos to 31 percent shooting (17-54) in the final three quarters.
In the second quarter, it was the Aztecs' turn to get hot and they shot 67 percent from the field and started to whittle down their deficit. A 10-3 run pulled SDSU within two points with 1:27 left in the half. After the Lobos hit a jumper with 52 seconds left, Ramos hit a three to bring them within one at the halftime break.
There were eight ties and five lead changes in the second half and neither team led by more than five until the final minute. The Lobos hit a three-pointer on the opening possession of the third quarter to go up four points which was followed by a 7-0 SDSU run, giving the Aztecs their first lead of the game.
The Lobos took a two-point lead into the fourth quarter, but Ramos knocked down a three on the opening possession to retake the lead and SDSU would hold that lead until the closing seconds of the game.
The Aztecs went up five with 4:58 left after making four straight buckets, their largest lead of the game at that point, but they wouldn't make another field goal. However, due to good defense and clutch free throw shooting, the SDSU lead grew to eight with 25 seconds left, but that's when things went haywire.
The Lobos hit a three-pointer then following a SDSU timeout, Sophia Ramos was set to inbound the ball except she never had possession after receiving it from the official and it bounced onto the court and the Lobos immediately knocked down another three.
"I trust Sophia to take the ball out," Terry-Hutson explained. "She is our steady hand and a great decision-maker. From what I was told, she never really had possession of the ball and it was taken from her out of bounds. We all kind of stopped and they went down and made a three."
Following another SDSU timeout, the Lobos got another steal on an inbounds pass and were fouled. Jordan Hosey made the first free throw and missed the second but New Mexico's Aisia Robertson got the rebound and made the put back to give the Lobos a one-point lead with nine seconds left. At that point, Hosey was unaware of the score and purposely fouled Ramos with five seconds left.
Ramos hit both free throws to put SDSU back on top by one, but the Lobos still had five seconds left. They would get a decent look from Robertson, but it rimmed out and time expired allowing the Aztecs to escape.
Aside from Ramos' 32 points, Taylor Kalmer continued her steady pay with 17 points on 6-for-9 shooting. Zayn Dornstauder had six points and 11 rebounds.
After being outrebounding 52-26 in their last game at UNLV, the Aztecs outrebounded the Lobos 41-29. However, they allowed a season-high 13 made three-pointers and turned the ball over 21 times. The Lobos finished with 26 more shot attempts.
New Mexico had four players in double-digits led by Jaedyn de la Cerda's 24. Jordan Hosey finished with 16, Aisia Robertson had 15 and eight rebounds and Antonia Anderson added 11.
STAT OF THE GAME I
The Aztecs were 24-for-27 (.889) from the free throw line, a new season-high for made free throws and percentage.
STAT OF THE GAME II
After shooting 65 percent (11-17) in the first quarter, the Aztecs held the Lobos to 31 percent shooting (17-54) in the final three quarters.
THE NOTE I
Sophia Ramos set new career-highs in points (32) and rebounds (11) and was 16-for-16 from the free throw line. Her 16 made free throws tied the school record set by Tina Hutchinson (1-10-84 vs. CS Fullerton).
THE NOTE II
San Diego State set a new women's basketball attendance record with 5,320 fans breaking the previous high of 5,271 set Dec. 21, 2007 against No. 2 UConn.
QUOTE OF THE GAME
"It was fantastic to have over 5,000 people in this arena today. San Diego State basketball as a whole, both programs, are really doing some fantastic things. Our men are having a phenomenal season, so it was nice for us to be able to play in front of fans and hear that same excitement in the arena and actually have a home court advantage. I'm just really happy we were able to get that for our girls. I'm grateful for our marketing staff and everybody involved in that." – Head Coach Stacie Terry-Hutson on the record-breaking attendance and atmosphere inside Viejas today
UP NEXT
The Aztecs play at Utah State Saturday at 1 p.m. PT.
Aztecs Edge Lobos in Front of Record-Breaking Crowd
