San Diego State women’s basketball had their first official win of the season in their home game openers against Cal State Los Angeles, defeating the Golden Eagles 72-57.
The Aztecs played a very high energy and physical game. Although the Aztecs held the lead for a majority of the game, both teams competed with very high energy for all four quarters.
Senior guard Sophia Ramos said the team was prepared for the physicality thanks to their scout team.
“We had a fantastic scout team this year,” Ramos said. “We have some boys come in and practice with us. They come in about every single day. They are very helpful. They are challenging us every single day. They are a great group of guys.”
Ramos ended the game with 21 points, five rebounds and three assists.
“I knew it was a good day when the ball was going in the basket during warmups today,” Ramos said. “Whether I am making the shots or not my teammates are getting me the ball. I don’t get to shoot unless my teammates are finding me, and we have a great, great team this year with sharing the ball. That is one of the big things we are emphasizing for us.”
Although the Aztecs took home a win, head coach Stacie Terry-Hutson said CSLA exposed some of the team’s weaknesses on the court.
“First off, Cal State L.A. did a great job of challenging us in a lot of areas and exploiting us in a lot of areas tonight,” Terry-Hutson said. “I thought they were very physical which gave us some problems around the rim.”
Terry-Hutson said she thinks the team’s defensive play is what needs the most improvement based on the night’s performance.
“Making sure we are swinging first in the third quarter, for lack of a better expression, giving the first punch,” Terry-Hutson said. “Because we need to make sure we come out aggressive because I think it dictates how we finish the game.”
Mallory Adams, Mercedes Staples and Ramos led the scoreboard. Adams contributed 15 points and Staples scored nine. However, Terry-Hutson said she was most impressed with redshirt freshman guard Asia Avenger’s performance.
“I am most impressed with Asia Avenger because I am asking her to do a lot,” Terry-Hutson. “She is not scoring the ball a lot but she is picking up the point guard 94 feet.”
Avenger played for a total of 26 minutes, contributing eight points, five assists and three rebounds.
“Those three carried the majority of the scoring today, however, I was really impressed with the 22 assists on the 27 baskets,” Terry-Hutson said. “The way we shared the ball is really what gets me excited this year. You’ll hear me yelling ‘share, share.’”
By the game’s end, the score reflected on the GoAztecs.com live stats and on the Viejas Arena jumbotron were different. The opposing team’s score was off by one point. It took several hours for the final score to be verified but one thing was clear, the Aztecs took the win.
“It (the next games) will be challenging because we are on the road,” Ramos said. “But the good thing is we are super deep this year. We are pushing ourselves in practice every single day.”
SDSU will play away at UC Irvine on Nov. 14.
