San Diego, CA – The Aztec women’s basketball team took charge of the game since the tip-off and never looked back.
The Lady Aztecs (21-7, 11-4) defeated Colorado State (17-9, 10-5) 53-49 inside Viejas Arena Thursday evening. SDSU never trailed and controlled the game front the start to finish.
The Aztecs held the Rams to a season-low 49 points.
“Defense was our main focus tonight,” SDSU guard Mercedes Staples said. We tried to prevent middle drives and I thought we did a really good job with that.”
Staples led the Aztecs with 13 points and hauled in eight boards. Sophia Ramos got her second straight double-double with 10 points and a season-high 12 boards.
SDSU sprinted out to a 9-0 run which gave them a 21-8 lead early in the second quarter and then they took a 29-13 lead early in the third.
The Rams shot 50% in the second half as they started to trim at SDSU’s lead. They hit five of their first six shots in the fourth quarter to pull within six and then got as close as three after SDSU struggled from the court.
SDSU came out blazing in the first half and built a 16-point lead and then they held off a late spurt by the Rams. Colorado State missed their first 12 three-pointers and were held to just 13 points in the first half.
CSU’s McKenna Hofschild, the Mountain West’s leading scorer, finished with 19 points but was hounded all night by Staples, Alex Crain and Asia Avinger.
The Rams got within three, but SDSU hit enough free throws, including two clutch ones from Kim Villalobos with 12 seconds left, to put the game away.
The Aztecs outrebounded the Rams 39-28.
STAT OF THE GAME
SDSU held Colorado State to 5-for-27 (19%) shooting from three.
UP NEXT:
The Aztecs host Wyoming, who is tied for third place, Saturday at 1 P.M.
