The San Diego State women’s basketball team dropped to an overall record of 8-12 and 5-5 in the Mountain West Conference after falling to the University of Nevada, Reno Wolf Pack 84-65 on Saturday.
A week after allowing the Colorado State University Rams to establish control with three-point shooting, the Aztecs’ defense once again allowed shots beyond the 3-point line as the Wolf Pack converted on 11 of 22 3-point field goals to set up an early lead they wouldn’t give up.
The Aztecs, however, scored on only 1 of 11 3-point shots while shooting a combined 36.2 percent from the field. Junior forward Khristina Hunter led the team with 16 points and nine total rebounds in 34 minutes of play, and freshman point guard Ariell Bostick scored 11 points with six rebounds in 23 minutes. Bostick had the team’s only 3-pointer of the game.
Trailing by 10 points at the half, the Aztecs were still in a position to get back into the game. Senior guard Danesha Long immediately grabbed a defensive rebound to begin the second half and a Wolf Pack foul put the Aztecs at the free-throw line where senior center Cierra Warren sank both of her shots.
Turnovers plagued SDSU in both periods of the game. On multiple occasions the Aztecs made runs to get themselves within 15 points, but couldn’t do many positive things with their forward momentum. With less than seven minutes to play, sophomore forward Deajanae Scurry drained two free throws, cutting the Nevada lead to 11. But a 3-point miss and another Aztec turnover proved costly, as an ensuing SDSU foul resulted in two more Wolf Pack free-throws and a 3-pointer from Nevada’s senior guard Danika Sharp.
Sharp finished the game with 16 points, adding four total rebounds and a steal in 28 minutes of play. Wolf Pack senior guard Arielle Wideman led the team in scoring with 17 points, converting four times from beyond the arc.
While the second half of the game was predominantly controlled by Nevada, the first half featured an exciting start. The Aztecs took a two-point lead less than a minute in after a layup by Warren, and the game saw five lead changes and three ties through the first six minutes of play.
SDSU returns to San Diego on Wednesday, Feb. 12 to take on the University of Wyoming. Tipoff is at 6 p.m. local time at Viejas Arena. With just eight games left in the season, the Aztecs will need to make each one of them count to get back into the conference race.
Photo by Kristian Carreon, Staff Photographer
