SAN DIEGO – Fueled by a red hot first quarter, the Aztec women's basketball team (4-5, 1-0) knocked off Colorado State (5-4, 0-1) 59-49 in their Mountain West opener Wednesday evening.
The Aztecs began the game on a 10-0 run and never relinquished the lead. They scored a season-high 28 first quarter points as they opened a 16-point lead.
"That first quarter was a thing of beauty, so we're going to focus on trying to replicate that," head coach Stacie Terry-Hutson said after the game. "To be able to dig in and get stops, I think we did a good job of that tonight. It was a hard-fought win against a really good Colorado State team. A good way to open conference play. I'm really impressed with the team ball that we played today, both offensively and defensively.
The Aztecs cooled off considerably in the second quarter and scored just four points, but their defense never wavered throughout the night and they took a 32-24 lead into the halftime break.
There were two different stretches where the Aztecs held the Rams without a field goal for at least seven minutes. CSU came into the game leading the conference with 8.8 made three-pointers per game, but the Aztecs held them to 3-for-17 shooting from deep.
The Rams cut the SDSU lead to five with 3:30 left but the Aztecs were clutch at the free throw line all night. They finished the night 18-21 and 12-14 in the fourth quarter.
"This was a great confidence builder for us," Terry-Hutson explained. "We've been working really hard in practice so to have some of that work pay off and for them to see those results, I think, will only fuel the fire."
Sophia Ramos, Taylor Kalmer and Téa Adams all scored 15 points to lead the Aztecs while Baylee Vanderdoes hauled in a game-high nine rebounds.
SDSU outrebounded the Rams 40-31 and are now 4-0 when they outrebound their opponent.
The Rams were led by Megan Jacobs' 12 points. Annie Brady added 10 points and had a team-high six rebounds.
STAT OF THE GAME I
The Aztecs scored 10 of their 18 field goals in the first quarter.
STAT OF THE GAME II
SDSU held the Rams to 3-for-17 (.176) shooting from three. CSU entered the game shooting 39 percent from deep and averaged 8.8 made three-pointers per game
THE NOTE
Téa Adams made her 11th three-pointer of the year. She made a combined 10 three-pointers in her first two years at SDSU.
QUOTE OF THE GAME
"We had a nice long talk after our last loss, and we decided to distinguish an identity for us and I think it really showed today." Sophomore guard Sophia Ramos
UP NEXT
The Aztecs continue the early portion of their Mountain West schedule Saturday afternoon when they play at San Jose State.
Aztecs Hold Off Colorado State 59-49
