LOGAN, Utah – The Aztec women's basketball team (11-13, 6-6) defeated Utah State (6-16, 1-10) 59-51 Saturday afternoon inside the Dee Smith Glen Spectrum for their third win in a row.
SDSU led for the entire second half but missed their first eight shots in the fourth quarter and saw the Aggies pull within three points. Sophia Ramos then completed a four-point play to end the Aggies' threat.
Ramos, who was coming off a 32-point 11 rebound performance vs. New Mexico, once again led the Aztecs with 24 points and eight rebounds. Taylor Kalmer had 18 points, her 18th straight game scoring in double-digits.
The Aztecs fell behind 7-2 to start the game only to respond with a 7-2 run of their own to tie the game at 9-9. SDSU shot 50 percent in the first quarter and held an 18-14 lead.
SDSU struggled in the second quarter and had more turnovers (5) than field goals (3) but were able to limit the Aggies to nine points in the quarter and took a 24-23 lead into the halftime break. Taylor Kalmer led SDSU with nine first half points.
Monique Terry made back-to-back threes to start the second half followed by a Téa Adams driving lay-in to propel SDSU on an 8-0 run and nine-point lead. Utah State cut it to four points with three minutes left but the Aztecs then went on a 7-0 run to give them an 11-point lead, their largest of the game. SDSU shot 73 percent from the field in the third quarter.
The Aztecs started the final quarter 0-for-8 and didn't score a point until there was 3:31 left on the clock. This allowed Utah State to pull within three points with 2:47 remaining. Following Ramos' four-point play, the Aztecs were 5-for-6 from the line to close out the game and secure their first Mountain West road win.
SDSU was fantastic from the line for the second straight game, finishing 13-for-15 with Ramos going 7-for-7. In the last two games, she is 23-for-23 from the charity stripe.
The Aztecs shot 47 percent from the field on the day and held the Aggies to 38 percent shooting, the 12th time SDSU has held their opponent under 40 percent shooting.
The Aggies were led by Hailey Bassett's 15 points, but she was just 7-for-21 from the field.
STAT OF THE GAME
The Aztecs were 13-for-15 (.867) from the free throw line. They are 37-42 (.881) over the last two games.
THE NOTE
In the last two games, Sophia Ramos is averaging 28 points and 9.5 rebounds while shooting 56 percent (14-25) from the field. She also was a perfect 23-for-23 from the line.
UP NEXT
The Aztecs have their first bye of the season next week and won't play until Saturday when they host Air Force at 1 p.m. PT.
Aztecs Knock Off Utah State 59-51
