It may have been the last regular-season home game for the San Diego State women’s basketball seniors, but last Saturday’s 86-45 victory against Boise State University was far from sad. The five Aztec seniors went out with a bang, winning the Mountain West Conference regular-season title to go with a 15-game winning streak they are sure to remember for the rest of their lives.
“Senior Day is bittersweet,” head coach Beth Burns said. “It brings a lot of emotion, but I felt we did a terrific job. We put it to them early and I thought we did a pretty good job staying consistent throughout the game.”
The SDSU scoring started as soon as the clock started running. Sophomore forward Erimma Amarikwa made a layup, which was followed by a jump shot by senior guard Courtney Clements to give the Aztecs a 4-0 advantage in the first minute of the game. Meanwhile, on the other side of the court, the Broncos struggled to put points on the scoreboard.
Clements made two free throws to give SDSU a 17-point lead heading into the locker room.
During the first half, the Aztecs connected on 13 of 39 of their field goal attempts and went 4 for 4 from the free-throw line.
Boise wasn’t going down that easy and the Broncos were determined to close the point gap in the second half.
But as a result of poor Boise shooting and a powerful Aztec defense, the Broncos couldn’t catch up.
“It’s good to be kind of done with the regular season,” Clements said. “I think I’m ready to move on with the end of the playoffs and what not, but it’s going to be hard not playing here. But we still got practice so it won’t be my last time on this hardwood.”
The Aztecs shot 47.9 percent from the field and 100 percent from the free-throw line. SDSU had a 50-30 rebounding advantage against Boise and a 20-13 advantage in points from turnovers. The Aztecs earned 50 of their 86 points in the paint.
Clements led the team with 26 points, followed by senior guard Chelsea Hopkins with 13 points and senior center Malia Nahinu with 12.
Hopkins hit her fourth triple double of the season and led the team with 11 rebounds and 12 assists. Hopkins is also leading the MW in assists and defensive rebounds. Nahinu, on the other hand, leads the MW in blocked shots.
This Thursday, the Aztecs arrive at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas to compete in the Reese’s Mountain West Championship as the No.1 seed. SDSU will compete against Air Force or Nevada at noon in the
quarterfinals.
“The biggest thing we need to do is to stay focused and not take anybody lightly,” Clements said. “Nobody is going to give us a game and we just have to go in there and do what we did in the regular season.”
