As the Scarlet and Black looked to continue their ongoing hot streak of 12 straight victories, the Aztecs took to the court against the Nevada Wolf Pack in celebration of National Girls and Women’s Sports Day, a tradition that began during the 2007-2008 season and marked the 19th consecutive year that the program has taken part in the tradition.
The tradition provides fans with pregame activities along the concourse, such as interactive mini-sports clinics with fellow female SDSU student-athletes from other sports and other female professional sports teams, such as the San Diego Mojo. Alongside the interactive mini sports clinics, tickets were also given away to children in 8th grade or below.
Before the game, the Aztecs recognized the work of Vice Major Lauren Cazares, who pushed for increased funding for female sports organizations in La Mesa. During halftime, various female sports organizations, such as Her Sports San Diego and Women’s Sports Xcelerator, were also recognized for their work. Also during halftime, seven members of the women’s team from the 2009-2010 season returned to Viejas Arena and were serenaded with flowers and a special video montage of highlights from their Sweet 16 run that season in the March Madness tournament.
The game and tradition, along with free tickets for kids in 8th grade or under, filled Viejas Arena with a sizable crowd, creating a noisy environment as the Scarlet and Black put on a solid team performance for all who attended.
“I want to shout out obviously our crowd, I thought we had a great crowd, we’re continuing to grow and get better and just really appreciate all the people that are supporting women’s basketball,” head coach Stacie Terry-Hutson commented after the game.
After the game, sophomore Guard CJ Latta commented on what it meant to her to be a fellow female collegiate athlete.
“We play to inspire the younger kids. I think it’s fun because I once was that little kid to go into college games and say ‘Whoa, these girls are so cool.’ So it’s really awesome being able to inspire them.”
The National Girls and Women’s Sports Day game set a blueprint for how collegiate sports can raise awareness of women’s sports, inspire future generations of girls to play, and celebrate the accomplishments of female athletes.
