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Story and photos by Liz AlperFebruary 19, 2022 (San Diego) - While the men are up in the Central Valley as visitors to the Bulldogs, for Senior Day and their last home game of the season, the lady Aztecs hosted the Bulldogs of Fresno State. ECM Sports was there to get all the action.
Fresno State jumped out to a lead quickly with a jumper and a three, but the Aztecs quickly repeated the action and senior Mallory Adams gave them the lead with a layup. She and fellow senior Mercedes Staples led the three point parade and widened the gap. Despite the Bulldogs closing the gap a little bit at the end of the quarter, the Aztecs still shot 60% from beyond the arc to take a 21-14 lead after one.
The second quarter was the Kim Villalobos show. The sophomore quickly racked up seven points. She and the Aztecs cooled off towards the end of the quarter and Fresno State was fast approaching, but the red and black ended the half with a five-point lead, 38-33. Staples led the way with 13 first half points and the Aztecs shot 55.6% from the 3-point line.Both teams took a relaxed approach to the third, with SDSU keeping their slim lead. The baskets picked up a tiny bit towards the end of the period, but nothing notable and the Aztecs led 54-46 after three, holding the Bulldogs to a 2:35-long scoring drought.
In order to get the win and survive the fourth, the Aztecs had to fight off the Twins, or at least one half of them; junior guard Haley Cavinder, who plays for the Dogs with her identical twin sister Hanna, had racked up 24 points throughout the game, but by the time we got to the fourth, she became a thorn in the Aztecs’ side, drawing fouls, getting to the line and quickly increasing her tally to 28 points. Her sister Hanna came right behind her with 10 points. But the Aztecs hung in there and increased their lead to a wide gap once more. Haley reached 30 points, but Staples finished with 21 and the Aztecs won their final home game big, 77-69.
UP NEXTThe Aztecs are on the road in the Mountain Time Zone for their last two games of the regular season. They’re in Fort Collins on Thursday to face Colorado State. Tip-off is at 6 p.m. MT/5 p.m. PT.
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