It took less than eight minutes of action for the San Diego State’s women’s basketball team to confirm the winner of the Reese’s Mountain Championship quarterfinal.

Behind senior guard Chelsea Hopkins’ 14 assists and the scoring duo of sophomore forward Erimma Amarikwa and senior forward Courtney Clements, who each scored 15 points, the Aztecs tamed the Wolf Pack, winning 67-39 to clinch a berth in the semifinals.

The Aztecs jumped out to a big lead and never looked back, scoring the game’s first 19 points in the first eight minutes before University of Nevada, Reno freshman forward Julia Shelbourn hit a free throw with 11:18 left in the first half, giving the Wolf Pack its first score of the game.

Nevada made it interesting at the end of the first half, using an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 28-14 aided by the Aztecs’ inability to convert on 12 consecutive offensive possessions.

SDSU finished the first half leading 32-18.

The Aztecs continued to maintain a double-digit lead in the second half, with the Wolf Pack unable to get within 12 points. SDSU’s largest lead of the game came with 19 seconds left in the game, when junior guard Danesha Long picked up a loose ball and laid it in to give the Aztecs a 67-39 lead, closing out
the game.

“(I) was really pleased with us,” SDSU head coach Beth Burns said. “I think everybody made big contributions.”

But the real story was Hopkins’ generosity with the ball. Hopkins assisted on each of the Aztecs’ 12 field goals in the first half. She finished the half with 12 assists, one shy of her career-high. Hopkins added two more assists in the second half to give her 14 on the game, a new career-high and a MW Women’s Basketball Championship record.

“I pride myself on being a pass-first point guard,” Hopkins said. “But I really pride myself on kind of doing whatever it takes
to win.”