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Basketball First: USD Women Beat SDSU

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Perhaps now the women’s basketball teams at the University of San Diego and San Diego State can talk of a rivalry and not giggle or sneer while doing so.

USD, with a convincing, 76-68, victory, has now defeated SDSU for the first time.

That’s ever, as in, first victory in 18 tries.

So dominant were the Aztecs in this series that to call it a rivalry, was like saying the same of the Christians-Lions matchup in the Roman Colosseum.

SDSU once defeated USD, 98-17. Five times the margin of victory was 40 or more. The closest the Toreras came was 1981, 65-46.

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Then came Wednesday night at the San Diego Sports Arena when the teams met as part of a double-header with the men’s game.

USD reversed the trend in much the same fashion it was started. They did so with advantages in height, depth and experience.

Chris Enger, a 6-foot-4 center from Vista High, nearly had a triple-double--probably would have if not for an ailing knee and strained thigh muscle. She finished with 17 points, 12 rebounds, and eight blocked shots.

Paula Mascari, a senior guard, finished with 17 points, including a three-pointer from the top of the key that put USD ahead for good, 21-20, with seven minutes 20 seconds left in the first half.

Candida Echeverria, a senior guard, scored 13 and had a game-high six assists. The all-time free-throw shooter in USD history, she also made seven of eight from the line.

Lynda Jones, a 6-2 forward, had 11 points, nine rebounds and was a steady force inside defensively for USD.

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Then there was Molly Hunter. Just four points and three assists, but Hunter was responsible for covering the Aztecs’ leading scorer, Julie Evans, who was averaging 19.0 points. Evans, who transferred from USD three years ago, managed 16 against her former teammates, eight in each half.

Guards Crystal Lee (20 points) and Dee Dee Davis (10) played well, but it was the fact that the three guards had to provide the bulk of the scoring that made USD a winner.

“I really think the difference in the game was our height and Chris Enger,” said USD Coach Kathy Marpe. “She just did everything. She blocked shots. She scored for us.”

She did so the way Chana Perry and Brooke Meadows did to USD last year in a 35-point romp at Peterson Gym. (“I thought we could have played a lot better. But it will do,” Enger said.)

But Perry and Meadows are gone, and SDSU, 25-9 and the runner-up in the National Invitational Tournament a year ago, is winless in four games.

Said Evans, “We’ve had a big change in terms of personnel and coaching. We’re still trying to learn to play as a small team.”

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