San Diego State women’s basketball defeated Hope International, 92-68, at Viejas Arena on Dec. 10.
The Aztecs played without their top scorer, senior guard Mckynzie Fort, who was benched as a precaution by head coach Stacie Terry.
Fort said she broke her thumb during SDSU’s 78-67 win over the University of Arizona.
A trio of guards – senior Khalia Lark and freshmen Naje Murray and Te’a Adams – stepped up for the Aztecs, scoring 15, 14 and 20 points, respectively.
“I think as a team we played really solid,” Lark said. “We had 25 assists which is something coach highlighted in the locker room. We tried to get everyone open shots. We always joke that it’s called dessert … Coach says we don’t want a lot of dessert, but here and there it’s great.”
The first quarter was a tug-of-war battle until the Aztecs began to pull away, building a seven-point lead on 50 percent three-point shooting. SDSU also forced five turnovers in the opening period.
SDSU outrebounded the Royals 41 to 29, had a better field goal and three-point shooting percentage and had half as many turnovers as the Royals.
Without Fort, Adams stepped up to lead the team to victory. Not only did she shoot 80 percent from the field, she also tallied eight rebounds and 10 assists with only one turnover coming off the bench.
Adams said she understood that an injury to one of the starters is something this team is prepared for.
“It was tough, there was definitely a missing piece but we have to get better just in case something like that ever happens again, (if) one of our main players gets hurt we have to work together,” Adams said.
Terry had high praise for her freshman.
“I’m very impressed but I’m not surprised,” Terry said. “That’s the big thing, we recruited Te’a to come and do this stuff. She took advantage of the opportunity she had today.”
The Aztecs scored more than 90 points for the first time this season, surpassing their previous season high of 78 against Arizona. SDSU shot 53.5 percent from the field as well as holding the Royals to only 38.7 percent shooting. The high scoring offense is a positive sign in Adams’ eyes.
“That’s really big for our team. It means that (against) better teams we can score a lot and share the ball and be successful against even better teams,” Adams said.
With the win, the Aztecs move to 6-3 on the season.
Lark said this team is showing drastic improvement from last season, both on and off the court.
“It’s a lot different off the court, we get along great, we are closer than we’ve ever been before. We’ve had a lot more discussions… Behind the scenes we’ve really grown as a team.”
Coach Terry says that she is seeing a championship-level drive with this team.
“They’re not happy where they are. They’re still hungry and very driven to win more, and not just winning games, winning possessions, winning quarters, and eventually winning a championship.”
SDSU squares off next against Santa Clara on Dec. 14 at Viejas Arena.
