Aztec Women Looking Up After Beating UNLV by 6
Any hope the San Diego State women’s basketball team had of slipping into the national top 20 rested with the Aztecs’ Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. game with Nevada Las Vegas.
It was all the players could think about after they were upset by Fresno State last week. And Coach Earnest Riggins viewed the game as the first real test for his relatively young team.
All were satisfied after the Aztecs beat UNLV, 69-63, Thursday night at Peterson Gym in front of a season-best crowd of 504.
Despite sluggish play in the final minutes, the Aztecs (13-3 overall, 5-1 in the PCAA) impressed Riggins.
“It proves what I thought all along,” Riggins said. “We can play with the best of them.”
UNLV (11-4, 5-3) was ranked 19th going into the game.
“They (the Aztecs) have been getting top 20 votes all season,” UNLV co-coach Jim Bolla said. “I’ve been voting for them all along. Maybe they’ll replace us after this game, because we definitely will drop out.”
UNLV hardly played like a ranked team in the closing minutes. The Runnin’ Rebels trailed, 64-59, with less than three minutes to play but then went 0 for 3 from the line on one-and-one opportunities and missed several other scoring opportunities. In one span, they missed four consecutive shots under the basket.
“I think both teams were too fatigued by that point,” Riggins said.
The Aztecs hit only 3 of 8 from the line in the final three minutes and finished 17 for 30 (57%). UNLV was 2 for 11 (18%) on free throws.
The Aztec backcourt, an area in which Riggins has been looking for improvement, played well.
“Their guards dictated the game in the first half,” Bolla said. “Their guards have been rapped for their bad play, but I think they came of age with this game.”
Another plus was center Chana Perry, who led all scorers with 21 points. But her streak of 19 consecutive free throws ended with 24 seconds left in the first half, and she finished 5 for 8 from the line.
“I’m mad about my free throw shooting, I just wasn’t concentrating,” Perry said.
A key for the Aztecs was shutting down UNLV guard DeNise Ballenger, who finished with only 9 points. Karen Hall led UNLV with 14 points.
SDSU led by 13, 27-14, early in the first half and kept the pace quick. But UNLV rallied behind Ballenger’s three-pointer with 6:11 to play, which narrowed the Aztecs’ margin to 27-21.
UNLV came within three (30-27) with 4:21 to play in the first half when Cynthia Thomas slipped in the backdoor and scored easily.