San Diego State women’s basketball fell to Alabama A&M by a score of 63-51 on Nov. 14 at Viejas Arena.
The Aztecs (2-2) dropped their second game of the season while falling short of making a 24-point comeback.
“This wasn’t our best game,” senior center Zayn Dornstauder said. “(Head coach Stacie Terry) talked about coming out strong and adjusting which is what we didn’t do. We played better in the second half, but we needed that sooner.”
SDSU was down 37-13 with 1:45 left in the second quarter.
Sophomore guard Sophia Ramos, who led the team in scoring with 12 points, said the team couldn’t find its rhythm which led to the early deficit.
“We started slow and dug ourselves in a hole,” Ramos said. “In past games, we usually do enough in the second half, but it wasn’t enough.”
The Aztecs struggled to score after shooting just 16% on field goals by halftime, while making only one of ten attempts from 3-point range.
Offensive rebounds played a large part as the Bulldogs (1-1) were first to the basket and held a nine to five advantage in that category at the half.
Alabama A&M scored 13 second-chance points off those boards.
Ramos said at the half the Aztecs stuck to their game plan and kept their heads up high.
“We had to just play our game. We struggled with things that we usually never have trouble with,” Ramos said. “It was more about getting on board with each other and continuing to fight.”
Fifty-two seconds into the third quarter junior guard Téa Adams found sophomore forward Mallory Adams for an open jumper.
The Aztecs went on a 19-8 run and cut the Bulldogs’ lead down to 11 by the end of the third.
Buckets were starting to fall for the Scarlet and Black who shot 57% from the field.
That momentum would carry on into the final quarter.
The Bulldogs were up by 16 with 6:08 left in the game after sophomore forward Dariauna Lewis made two free throws.
The defense stepped up for the Aztecs to hold the visitors scoreless for five straight minutes.
SDSU went on an 11-0 run to pull within five points as the Bulldogs held on to a 55-50 lead.
Foul trouble put the Aztecs over the limit allowing the Bulldogs to make six of their final nine free throws to seal the game.
Ramos said it hasn’t been easy for the team considering the soccer’s campus experienced a power outage on Nov. 12, which relocated their last game against Westcliff to Grossmont College’s gym.
“These past couple games have been rough for us. Especially everything that happened a couple of days ago,” she said. “Now it’s a clean slate to start fresh and get ready for Sunday.”
The Aztecs’ next game is against the Ca l State Fullerton Titans on Nov. 17 at Viejas Arena.
