Women’s basketball losing streak extends to five in close defeat to SDSU
Some hot three-point shooting from San Diego State worked to extend the Aggies’ losing streak to five on Saturday in a down-to-the-wire home loss to the Aztecs which ended 56-54.
Utah State started the game well, scoring nine unanswered points to begin the first quarter. Four three pointers by the Aztecs, however, helped to cut the deficit to six to end the period with USU up 18-12.
The second quarter favored the visiting team, and San Diego State went on a seven-point run to begin the quarter. A made three-point basket by SDSU’s Naje Murray with six minutes left in the period tied the game at 18. The quarter ended in a 27 point tie.
“I felt like we had lapses of energy throughout the game, and obviously the stats show, we didn’t shoot the ball the best,” said Utah State junior guard Olivia West.
SDSU controlled the game for most of the third quarter and at one point had taken a 10-point lead. However, USU used an eight-point run to end the period and close the gap to just two, 44-42.
The final period was a battle between the two teams, and the game stood tied at 54-points with just 22 seconds left in the contest. A made free throw by SDSU put them ahead by one, and a couple of missed layups by USU on the next possession forced them to intentionally foul San Diego State’s Sophia Ramos. A free throw off the intentional foul put the Aztecs up two with just over a second remaining.
USU attempted to run an out-of-bounds play for a quick-hitting layup, but guard Olivia West was knocked down and time expired with no shot attempt.
“Really proud of the girls for having a never die spirit. We fell behind in those third and fourth quarters and it really didn’t get to us,” said USU head coach Jerry Finkbeiner. “In the end we had a chance to win.”
San Diego State hit more shots from behind the three-point arc than from inside it, with nine threes to only seven two-point field goals on the game.
The Aggies shot 20 more times than the Aztecs, but their shooting percentages of 30.3 from the field and 25 from three allowed SDSU to come out on top despite the disadvantage.
“We’re just being outshot percentage-wise in the twos and the threes, and that is the difference in the game,” Finkbeiner said.
This loss drops USU to 10-12 overall and 5-6 in-conference. They will travel to face Wyoming next on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.