Junior guard Courtney Clements played like a snipe-shooter last Saturday. The Mountain West Conference leading scorer displayed her patience firing from long range, ironically using just one eye.
The San Diego State women’s basketball team (16-4, 6-0) defeated Colorado State 66-57 in Viejas Arena, extending its win streak to 12. Clements led SDSU with 19 points, while tying her career high of five 3-pointers.
The Aztecs took control of the game early, going on a 11-2 run midway through the first half for a 28-16 lead with 5:09 left to play. SDSU gave up some momentum, however, allowing CSU (8-13, 4-2) to end the half on a 6-2 run, leaving the score at 33-25.
“We didn’t control the tempo the way we could’ve during those final minutes of the half,” head coach Beth Burns said. “We still have to work on being aggressive when playing with the lead.”
To start the second half, CSU senior guard Kim Mestdagh missed a 3-point attempt, which Clements rebounded and took up the court to start SDSU’s first possession of the second half. Suddenly, Clements went down awkwardly for several minutes after being poked in the eye by Mestdagh.
“Initially it really hurt,” Clements said while Burns examined her eye following the game. ”But afterwards it was fine.”
It certainly was, as Clements knocked down her fourth 3-pointer of the game on the following possession, like nothing ever happened. The Aztecs’ backcourt pressure and 22 forced turnovers kept victory out of reach for CSU, but the team continued to keep it close. The Rams managed to shrink the deficit down to just seven points with two minutes remaining.
Sophomore guard Kiyana Stamps, suffering from the flu, put a stamp on the victory with a spin move followed by an acrobatic, mid-range step-back jumper off the glass to increase the lead to 63-54 with 1:34 remaining.
“Kiki’ is a gamer,” Burns said. “Some people are really good when the game’s on the line and she’s one of them.”
SDSU will take on Boise State at 6 p.m. on Wednesday for its first-ever game in Boise, Idaho.
