SAN DIEGO – The Aztec women's basketball team (7-9, 2-2) held off Utah State (5-10, 0-4) 66-62 Saturday afternoon inside Viejas Arena to improve to 2-2 in Mountain West play. SDSU shot a season-best 53 percent from the field and 70 percent in the fourth quarter to hold off the Aggies late rally.
The Aztecs led by as many as 12 points in the first half, but Utah State got hot from deep and rallied to take the lead early in the second half. SDSU retook the lead late in the third quarter and withstood multiple runs in the fourth quarter by Utah State to secure the win.
"We played some really good basketball down the stretch," head coach Stacie Terry-Hutson said. "It was nice to be able to punch back when they threw some punches figuratively. We were able to get buckets and make shots when we needed to. Utah State is a good basketball team and I thought they played really well today. For us to protect home court is great."
Sophia Ramos led the Aztecs with 20 points on 6-for-9 shooting. Taylor Kalmer scored 14 points, reaching double-digits for her tenth consecutive game, and Monique Terry set a new career-high with 13 points on 5-for-6 shooting.
After falling behind 15-2 at Fresno State Wednesday, the Aztecs flipped the script and opened up a 12-4 lead to start the game after making six of their first seven shots. Defensively, they allowed the Aggies to make just one of their first 10 shots and led 16-8 at the end of the first quarter. Kennedi Villa went 3-for-3 in the opening quarter.
SDSU pushed their lead to 24-12 only to see Utah State respond with three straight three-pointers to cut the lead to 24-21.
The Aggies took their first lead early in the third quarter, which featured six lead changes. A 6-0 Aztec run gave SDSU a 46-41 lead, an advantage they never relinquished.
Both teams were efficient on offense in the fourth quarter and Utah State kept it close until the final buzzer. SDSU went up seven points with 53 seconds left but the Aggies then went on a 6-1 run to pull within two points with 15 seconds left. Sophia Ramos made two free throws with nine seconds left to close out the game. Ramos was 8-for-11 from the line on the day.
"We've been working on late game situations in practice every day," Terry-Hutson explained. "It was great to hear our girls when they were coming over to the bench up four or down two and saying, 'This is a situation we've already practiced. We know what to do.' We were able to make plays because we've practiced those situations. I feel they are confident in tight games."
Utah State was 8-for-19 from three while SDSU made just one three on four attempts.
The Aggies were led by Hailey Bassett's 21 points. Lindsey Jensen-Baker added 15 points and Steph Gorman chipped in 14.
STAT OF THE GAME I
The Aztecs shot a season-best 53 percent from the field.
STAT OF THE GAME II
SDSU had 11 assists and eight turnovers. They had three assists and 21 turnovers in their loss at Fresno State on Wednesday.
THE NOTE
Monique Terry scored a career-high 13 points.
QUOTE OF THE GAME
"Monique works her tail off. She's in the gym everyday getting up extra shots before and after shootaround. I'm really happy to see her hard work pay off. She's prepped and ready for this moment. She works hard and made some big buckets for us." Head coach Stacie Terry on Monique Terry scoring a career-high 13 points
UP NEXT
SDSU hosts Wyoming, who lost to Colorado State at home Saturday, Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. The game will be streamed on the Mountain West Network.
Aztecs Hold Off Utah State 66-62
