Last Saturday, the women’s basketball game told a different story than the previous three this season. Instead of a close loss, the San Diego State Aztecs were beaten handily at Viejas Arena by No. 19/14 ranked University of South Carolina Gamecocks 88-54 in a game that featured turnovers, a bizarre start and the arena fire alarm going off.
Junior forward Erimma Amarikwa led the Aztecs with 15 points and five rebounds, while junior point guard Ahjalee Harvey had 10 points and three assists.
Right after tipoff, it seemed only the referees knew which team was going in which direction. After an immediate backcourt violation by the Aztecs, Gamecocks got the ball and sophomore guard Tiffany Mitchell made a 3-pointer in SDSU’s basket, although no one figured that out until the Aztecs came down the court again.
The Aztecs stayed close in the first half, a half in which Amarikwa thought the team “came out strong.” It was boosted by the return of leading scorer and senior center Cierra Warren, but she couldn’t match her previous scoring average of 24.5 points per game, instead finishing with only five points before fouling out.
From the outset, SDSU’s game plan was to shut down the middle and force South Carolina to shoot the ball from the outside, a game plan that backfired as sophomore guards Asia Dozier and Khadijah Sessions combined for six 3-pointers in the first half.
“To their credit they came in and made shots and that’s what good teams do,” head coach Stacie Terry said.
That produced a couple of 6-0 runs and put the Gamecocks in the lead 43-29 at halftime.
The beginning of the second half didn’t lack in the bizarre factor as the fire alarms went off in Viejas Arena, prompting confusion and a brief stoppage before play resumed. The Aztecs got the deficit to within six points courtesy of good play from Harvey before things began to unravel.
“I think us fouling and them getting to the free-throw line kind of opened it up, and us turning the ball over and not taking great shots,” Terry said.
South Carolina’s 11-0 run made the score 62-43 and then the free throws fell like rain. Time after time the Aztecs committed fouls and turnovers; the Gamecocks made their free throws down the stretch, going nine for 10 at one point.
That theme continued as South Carolina closed it out with more free throws and Aztec fouls, condemning SDSU to a 0-4 start on the season, something Terry doesn’t think is that big of a deal.
“That’s a very young team learning to sustain the game plan for 40 minutes. They’re kind of learning as they go,” Terry said.
Amarikwa, whose 15 points came on 7 of 11 shooting, said the Aztecs should have done more in the beginning of the game.
“I felt like we relaxed too early, we should have attacked more and should have been more aggressive,” Amarikwa said.
Despite the losing score, Terry said with improvement through hard work, the team will be ready for Mountain West Conference opponents later this season.
“We got to do a better job of handling the ball, that’s what we’re going to work on all week,” Terry said speaking about the game in general. “I think we’re going to be a very good team come conference time.”
The Aztecs travel to Santa Barbara this Saturday for a game at 2 p.m. against the University of California, Santa Barbara Gauchos.
Photo by Jenna Mackey, Staff Photographer
