The crowd inside Viejas Arena was loud and The Show actually showed up to a women’s basketball game. In their final home game of the 2013-14 campaign, the San Diego State Aztecs saved the best for last, grinding out a 64-63 win against their conference rival the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Rebels.
[quote]“We just had to dig down and play defense and get our stops,” senior guard Danesha Long said.[/quote]
The Aztecs started with a 10-5 lead thanks to baskets by Long and senior center Cierra Warren, the only two seniors on the SDSU roster. UNLV came back to take a 13-12 lead, which extended to 26-19 with less than seven minutes remaining in the first half. However, that quickly came to an end as the Aztecs stopped the Rebels from scoring for the rest of the half.
Junior forward Chairese Culberson ran right through UNLV’s press defense, and then made a 3-pointer to put the Aztecs up 28-26 as part of a 16-point run. This put SDSU up 35-26 at the half.
In the second half, a technical foul against the Rebels sent Warren to the line for two free throws, which she made to give the Aztecs their largest lead of the game at 53-40.
Yet, UNLV roared to life on the back of several 3-pointers that eventually gave them a 57-55 lead, completing a 17-2 run over the span of four minutes.
[quote]“We needed stops. We weren’t defending like we needed to,” SDSU head coach Stacie Terry said. “This game two months ago we would have lost. Three months, would have totally flipped, we would have lost by 10.”[/quote]
The Aztecs only trailed for 22 seconds before Long’s jump shot and free throws made the score 59-57.
The Rebels’ redshirt senior guard Mia Bell hit one of her six 3-pointers with less than a minute remaining to give UNLV a one-point lead. But SDSU sophomore forward Deajanae Scurry drove inside for a layup with just 28 seconds left to give the Aztecs the lead for good.
On the inbounds play, Warren motioned for the crowd to get loud.
They did.
The Rebels, down by three after, SDSU junior forward Khristina Hunter made two free throws, lobbed up a last-second shot that Hunter caught as the buzzer went off.
Judging by the excitement level of the game, this win was possibly one of the most thrilling wins of the season for fans and first-year head coach Terry. SDSU has now improved to 9-8 in conference play and has one game remaining at the University of New Mexico on Saturday before heading to the Mountain West Conference Tournament in Las Vegas next week.
