San Diego State women’s basketball defeated Towson 80-72 in its home opener on Nov. 9 at Viejas Arena.
The Aztecs (1-1) bounced back after losing 61-58 to Hawaii on Nov. 5.
SDSU’s offensive push in the second half was enough to pull away from a Towson Tigers team that kept the contest close throughout the game.
“I was proud of my ladies tonight,” Aztecs head coach Stacie Terry said. “We showed a lot of poise down the stretch.”
The Aztecs were down as many as 11 points in the second quarter.
Junior guard Téa Adams, who led the Aztecs with 16 points, said the team’s aggressiveness was key to making a comeback.
“We hit them hard first which coach emphasized to us in the beginning of the (fourth) quarter,” Adams said. “We’re going to find a lot of success this year if we continue to do that.”
SDSU started the game with a 7-0 run before Tigers senior guard Ryan Holder scored the team’s first points at the 7:55 minute mark in the first quarter.
Towson got back into the ball game by going on a 11-3 run.
SDSU called a timeout with 5:16 left in the first quarter.
Coming out of the huddle, SDSU made mistakes which the Tigers pounced on.
SDSU sophomore guard Sophia Ramos turned the ball over on a pass attempt. Then on the following possession, senior center Zayn Dornstauder lost control of the ball and turned it over as well.
“They’re just a good team,” Terry said. “They were able to make plays. We were able to slow them down, but you can’t stop a good team.”
At the end of the first quarter, the Aztecs were down 19-17.
Towson came out in the second period shooting 50% from the field on 8-of-16 field goals. The Aztecs scored just two points in the first five minutes of the quarter.
At halftime, the Scarlet and Black found themselves in a 39-31 deficit.
Terry said she told the team at the break to reorganize and focus on moving the ball.
That showed in the third quarter as the Aztecs dished out eight assists. The passing led to finding the open player to knock down shots.
That resulted in the Aztecs shooting 66.7% from the field on 10-of-15 shots during the third quarter, which closed the gap 60-59 by the end of the period.
“The offense came alive because we shared the ball. We talked about the extra pass,” Terry said. “I have players that can score, but they were sacrificing their point totals for the team goal.”
Sophomore forward Mallory Adams, who had 15 points and six rebounds, said the team was clicking because everyone stuck to the game plan.
“We used the O-D-O scheme which is to score, get a stop, and score again,” she said. “We work on that in practice and it helped us create separation near the end.”
To start the fourth quarter, Ramos drove into the paint and made a layup.
The Aztecs retook the lead 61-60 and never lost it for the remainder of the game.
In the final minute of left to play, senior forward Baylee Vanderdoes and senior guard Taylor Kalmer together made five of their six free throws to seal the win for the Aztecs.
“Those free throws were clutch,” Terry said. “They’re both confident shooters, and I’m glad they were able to step up for us.”
Next up for the Aztecs is a non-conference game against Westcliff on Nov. 12 at Viejas Arena.
