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UC Davis was 12-for-26 from 3-point range
Source: goaztecs.com
Photo courtesy goaztecs.com
December 2, 2016 (Davis, California) - The San Diego State women’s basketball team couldn’t get past a powerful performance from beyond the arc by UC Davis and lost in non-conference action, 75-55, Friday night.
UC Davis improved to 5-1 on the season, while the Aztecs dropped to 2-5. The Aggies were outstanding from 3-point range, going 12-for-26 (46.2 percent). The 12 threes made was one shy of the most allowed in San Diego State history (13, at Wyoming, Feb. 21, 2004). UC Davis junior Dani Nafekh made eight treys on her own, garnering 28 points, which was easily a career high (previously 17 points).
“We played them even in the second half,” head coach Stacie Terry said. “We had better defensive intensity from the start. They’re a good offensive team; we knew that going in. But we need to a better job at taking care of business, guarding shooters and getting easy looks.”
The game started on the right foot for the Aztecs. Fifty-six seconds into the game, McKynzie Fort was fouled on a layup attempt and made the two ensuing free throws. Monique Terry fought through traffic to get her first two points of the game on the next possession. Fort matched that with a layup of her own, thanks to a long throw from Ariell Bostick. SDSU held a 6-3 lead 2:17 into the game.
Bostick got her second assist of the game three-and-a-half minutes later with a bounce pass to Lexy Thorderson, whose layup increased San Diego State’s lead to 8-3.
The teams traded field goals until 2:35 when the Aggies’ defense tightened. The Aztecs were unable to get a field goal for the duration of the quarter, allowing a pair of 3-pointers by Nafekh and a layup by Morgan Bertsch to trail 18-12 after 10 minutes of play.
UC Davis continued to fire shot after shot and with 6:42 to go in the second quarter, Ellison stopped a 13-0 run by the Aggies with a long three from the left corner, trimming the UC Davis lead to eight at 23-15. She nailed a second three on the Aztecs’ next possession and matched that with a jumper on the ensuing possession from the right side for the 25-20 score.
Cheyenne Greenhouse’s hitch shot from the front of the basket at 4:46 cut the UC Davis lead to three, but was SDSU’s final field goal of the half, as the Aggies strung together 14 unanswered points before a good free throw by Arantxa Gomez Ferrer for the 39-23 margin.
Nafekh added five points on her own in the final 27 seconds of the half for the 44-23 UC Davis advantage at halftime.
The second half started the same way the first half ended. San Diego State was shut out for nearly six-and-a-half minutes until Abby Lowe made a pair of free throws to cut the Aggies’ lead to 49-25. After UC Davis got a jumper with exactly six minutes on the clock, Lowe got a layup precisely one minute later for the 51-27 score.
Led by Thorderson, San Diego State wasn’t ready to back down just yet. She hit her first of three treys in the quarter at 4:23, getting her second on the next Aztec possession. Geena Gomez followed that up with a jumper, and Thorderson got her third three with two-and-a-half minutes to go for the 56-38 UC Davis lead.
But SDSU couldn’t get anything else on the board and allowed Nafekh’s sixth three of the game for the 59-38 score after 30 minutes.
Despite out-scoring UC Davis, 17-16, in the fourth quarter, which included freshman Abby Lowe’s first collegiate three, the gulf was too wide for the Aztecs to overcome and the Scarlet and Black fell, 75-55.
Fort and Thorderson led the team with 11 points each, while Bostick’s six assists and four steals were a team high. Lowe recorded a collegiate-best seven points, going 2-for-3 from the floor and 2-for-2 from the free-throw line in eight minutes logged. Gomez Ferrer had her second game in three outings where she made a pair of blocks (2 vs. UT Arlington).
San Diego State committed fewer turnovers, 18-14, but was out-rebounded, 40-35. For the game, the Aztecs shot 29.7 percent (19-for-64) as compared to the Aggies’ 50 percent shooting performance (30-for-60).
Following nearly a month away, SDSU returns to the comfortable confines of Viejas Arena for a pair of games, hosting Michigan on Fri., Dec. 9 and UC Santa Barbara on Sun., Dec. 11.
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