FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The San Diego State women’s basketball team (16-3, 10-0) overcame a cold-shooting day to hold on and win at Colorado State 46-44 (17-5, 8-3) Wednesday. The Aztecs didn’t make a single three-pointer but held the Rams to 31% shooting and outrebounded them 51-30 to extend their win streak to 12 games.
“What a great defensive effort,” Head coach Stacie Terry-Hutson said after the game. “We did a good job taking away their strengths and this was a really good team win.”
The Aztecs began the game on a 10-1 run and held the lead until there was 7:37 left in the game. CSU was up three points with 3:53 remaining, but SDSU responded with a 10-0 run and led by seven points with 28 seconds remaining. A couple of CSU three-pointers, one the old-fashioned way, coupled with missed free throws by the Aztecs, gave the Rams a chance to tie or win the game with 3.5 seconds remaining.
SDSU got one final stop in the final seconds when Nat Martinez bottled up CSU’s leading scorer Lexus Bargesser and forced her to dribble it off her foot.
The Aztecs were led by Kaelyn Hamilton who had a career-high 15 points on 7-for-11 shooting and brought in a crucial offensive rebound on a missed free throw with four seconds left.
“Kaelyn is tough as nails,” Terry-Hutson praised. “She can guard anybody out there and she was locked in defensively today.”
Alyssa Jackson also had a huge game off the bench, securing a career-high 11 rebounds. Naomi Panganiban was held without a field goal but was 8-for-8 from the line in the second half.
STAT OF THE GAME I
SDSU averages 9.1 three-pointers per game and made 14 vs. San Jose State Saturday but were 0-for-12 today. It is the first time they have won a game without making a three pointer since Feb. 4, 2015 vs. Nevada.
STAT OF THE GAME II
The Aztecs outrebounded the Rams 51-30.
QUOTE OF THE GAME
“It was an ugly win, but when you can win on the road at altitude in this conference against a very good team, we’re going to take some positives away from that.” Head coach Stacie Terry-Hutson said after the game.
THE NOTE I
The Aztecs’ 46 points are the fewest they have ever scored in a win in school history.
THE NOTE II
The Aztecs became the sixth team in Mountain West history to start 10-0 in conference play. Each of the previous five teams made the NCAA Tournament that year.
UP NEXT
SDSU hosts Nevada Saturday at 1 p.m. All kids in eighth grade and under can attend for free.