A team needs the ball to score. That’s a basic rule for almost anysport.
The San Diego State women’s basketball team violated that rule andgave the game away to the University of Southern California, 72-60,on Saturday at Cox Arena.
SDSU (1-5) turned the ball over 30 times while attempting only 36shots in the game.
“Our two biggest weaknesses right now are rebounding andturnovers,” said Aztecs head coach Barb Smith. “We’re giving up 30more opportunities to score.”
The tempo and outcome of the game was decided in the first half.SDSU continually turned the ball over to USC (3-1) on offense, oftenby mishandling passes in the post or throwing errant passes to thewrong team.
By the end of the first half, the Aztecs’ field goal attempt total(16) equaled its number of turnovers (16).
With a shortage of players at the guard position, SDSU had to relyon Shannon Lee and freshman Jamey Cox to handle the ball most of thetime for the Aztecs. The two combined for 13 turnovers and eightassists.
“With time it’s going to come but it’s frustrating for them,”Smith said. “They’ve just got to do it. We have no other choice. It’sa lot of energy on them to bring the ball up all the time. But it’sthe situation we’re in and we’ve got to get better doing that.”
Smith said rebounding and failing to box out in the paint alsohurt SDSU throughout the game. The Trojans grabbed 13 offensiverebounds to the Aztecs’ five. SDSU did not have an offensive reboundin the first half.
USC forward Danielle Golay punished the Aztecs in the paint. Shewent 8-for-11 from the field, with a team-high 16 points and sixrebounds. Five of those rebounds were offensive, which led to severaleasy put-backs. Golay scored six of the Trojans’ first 11 points asUSC jumped out to an 11-4 lead early in the game.
“Most of their lay-ups were us missing box-outs,” Smith said.”They really scored with put-backs.”
Center Mary Apiafi, who had 22 points and eight rebounds, wasguarding Golay for most of the game. She said the team must getbetter at boxing out if it is to be successful.
“We play really well when we play as a team,” Apiafi said. “Wehave so much talent on our team. We just have to box out. That’s theproblem.”
The Trojans pushed the lead to 31-12 with five minutes left in thehalf, as they capitalized on SDSU turnovers and passes to playersnear the basket for up-close shots.
USC’s success in the paint opened up its perimeter shooters andcaused yet another problem defensively for the Aztecs in the secondhalf. Trojans guard Erica Mashia, who went 5-for-8 from behind thearc for 15 points, hit two three-pointers before halftime to give USCa 36-23 lead at the half.
SDSU shot 50 percent from the field in the half on 8-of-16shooting compared to the Trojans’ 16-of-34 shooting.
The Aztecs switched to playing zone defense in the second half tohelp contain USC’s inside play. The Trojans used it to theiradvantage, hitting 6-of-13 from three-point range in the second half.
Despite the zone defense, SDSU still could not keep USC off theoffensive boards and stop the easy put-backs, Smith said.
“We weren’t closing out on their scorers,” Smith said. “But eventhen, if we closed out and they shot one up and missed it, we stillweren’t boxing out. We’ve got to be able to play inside and outsideat the same time.”
The Trojans scored from inside and outside to stretch their leadto as much as 27 points in the second half. The Aztecs could get nocloser than 12 points, closing the game with a 14-2 run to make thescore respectable.
SDSU must now regroup and get ready to play a nationally-rankedUCLA squad on Thursday. Forward Anita Bundage still has a positiveoutlook on the season despite the 1-5 start.
“We just have to be mentally tough and push through and we’ll beall right,” she said.
