OUTSTANDING SECOND HALF PROPELS SDSU WOMEN'S HOOPS PAST CAL STATE FULLERTON

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The Aztecs next welcome Biola to Viejas Arena on Wednesday, Dec. 28 at 6:30 p.m.

Source: goaztecs.com

Photo courtesy goaztecs.com

December 22, 2016 (Fullerton, Calif.) - Behind McKynzie Fort’s career-high 29 points and an outstanding second-half performance in which the Aztecs out-scored Cal State Fullerton, 44-27, San Diego State women’s basketball defeated the Titans, 71-61, in non-conference action Thursday evening.

“I’m really proud of this team for coming back in the second half and doing what we needed to do,” head coach Stacie Terry said. “Our shooters started making shots, but it started with the defense. That’s really what got us going.”

Stringing together its first win streak of the season following an 84-70 win against UC Santa Barbara on Dec. 11, San Diego State shot 47.4 percent (27-for-47) from the floor, led by Fort’s career-best 29 points. She got 22 points in the second half, and added four assists and two steals during the game.

“We don’t talk a lot about McKynzie for her defense and I really thought that’s what got us going,” Terry said of Fort. “She got a couple steals and started the transition.”

In her San Diego State debut following a transfer from Washington after the Fall 2015 semester, and playing just 18 miles from her hometown of Irvine, Calif., Khalia Lark scored five points, added as many rebounds and notched two assists in 29 minutes on the floor, the second most on the team.

“Khalia is an unbelievable talent,” said Terry. “She can score the ball, brings toughness and rebounds so we’re definitely ready to have her. It’s tough for her because she hasn’t played in a year, but we’re going to be better with her on the floor and we’re going to win more games.”

Kymberly Ellison and Lexy Thorderson each knocked down a trio of 3-pointers, while Monique Terry and Arantxa Gomez Ferrer both collected a career-high five boards.

The game opened in the Aztecs’ (4-6) favor. Fort collected the rebound of a Thorderson 3-point attempt and, through traffic, got the layup. After five unanswered points by Cal State Fullerton (2-9), Ellison tied it at 5-5 with a trey, which she matched on the next Aztec possession to hand SDSU the 8-5 lead 3:10 into the game. Fort made a free throw for a 9-5 lead at 6:19.

Following a CSUF jump shot at 5:32, Ellison backhanded in a layup from the left side of the basket to make the score 11-7 at 4:47. But the Titans were able to go on a 9-2 run to take a 16-13 lead with 1:36 remaining in the first quarter.

As time wound down in the period, Fort made a pair of free throws and Geena Gomez served up a perfectly placed ball to Thorderson at the basket for SDSU to take a 17-16 lead at the end of the opening quarter.

Cal State Fullerton, however, out-scored the Aztecs, 18-10, in the second quarter to take a 34-27 advantage after 20 minutes of play.

SDSU returned from the intermission with a renewed spirit, led by team-leading scorer Fort’s 22 second-half points. She kicked off second-half scoring 44 second in with a jumper in the paint to cut CSUF’s lead to 35-29. However, the Titans responded with seven unanswered points. But Fort got two points each in back-to-back possessions, making the score 41-33 in Cal State Fullerton’s favor.

The team’s traded two-point scores, including Lark’s first score in the Scarlet and Black, for a 43-35 score with 4:48 remaining in the third frame. Eighteen seconds later, Fort continued to display her offensive dominance with an assist to Arantxa Gomez Ferrer, cutting the margin to 43-37.

After the Titans got three points on the board with a layup and made free throw, Thorderson’s trey with two minutes to go in the period got the score to 46-40. Fort added a jumper from the front of the basket, thanks to a helper from Lark, with 55 seconds remaining and Ariell Bostick’s first points of the game at 24 seconds put the game within two points. CSUF would add a good free throw for a 47-44 advantage at the end of the third quarter.

But the Scarlet and Black was determined to leave Titan Gym with a victory, shutting down the Titans and out-scoring Cal State Fullerton, 27-14, in the closing period.

The fourth quarter mimicked the start of the third frame, with SDSU opening the scoring. Ellison’s deep three from the left side knotted the score at 47-47, but the Titans would regain their lead with a layup on the ensuing possession.

San Diego State again tied the score, 51-51, at 8:11, when Fort got the three-point play on a layup and free throw. Gomez Ferrer’s jump shot on the next Scarlet and Black possession regained her team’s lead for the 53-52 score at 7:22, and Fort knocked down a long 3-pointer three minutes into the quarter for the 56-52 Aztec margin. 

A Cal State Fullerton jumper in the paint cut SDSU’s lead to 56-54, but Thorderson responded with a long ball from the right side for the 57-54 advantage. Lark matched that with her first San Diego State 3-pointer for a 62-54 lead with 4:38 to go in regulation.

The junior capped that off with an assist to Fort on the next possession, helping her team out-score the Titans, 20-7, at that point, for the 64-54 margin. Each team would go on to score seven points for the final 71-61 score.

San Diego State will go for its third straight win when it welcomes Biola to Viejas Arena on Weds., Dec. 28 at 6:30 p.m.

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