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In an early-season battle for the lead, sophomore Asia Abinger and her San Diego State women’s basketball teammates clinched the top spot in the Mountain West Conference in the first quarter.<\/p>\n
Azteca not only started against UNLV, but suffered their first home setback of the season at the Viejas Arena on Saturday, losing to the defending conference champions 76-70.<\/p>\n
Avinger scored 8 of her 25 points with 4:19 starting to help SDSU (12-4, 2-1) take a 10-2 lead. The Aztecs were leading 19-12 in the first quarter, but at halftime she drew 34-31 and never led again.<\/p>\n
“I tried my best and tried my best to execute the play to the best of my ability,” said Abinger, who added a season-high 25 points and six assists. “They did better than us. We have to come back and prepare for the next game.”<\/p>\n
The Rebels (14-2, 4-0) have four returnable starters, a five-game streak ahead of SDSU and a 10th-place finish in their last 11 games.<\/p>\n
Going into the match, the Aztecs had their best result since the team went unbeaten at home (15-0) in 2008-09, winning all nine home games this season. The loss also snapped a 12-game home winning streak.<\/p>\n
SDSU coach Stacey Terry Hutson promised to study basketball a lot during the holidays this semester, saying, “We have to think about what we did well and where we can improve.” It was a good game and fun to watch for the fans, but there are a lot of areas that need to be refined.”<\/p>\n
The Aztecs were just 3\/24 (13%) from their 3-point range, but 29\/68 (43%) overall. In his previous two games, he shot over 55 percent each time while pulling off his best start since 1995-96 (12-3).<\/p>\n
It was also disappointing that UNLV enjoyed a 19-1 advantage in second-chance points.<\/p>\n
SDSU went scoreless in the final 3:52 of the first half, but the Rebels mounted a 9-0 run for a three-point edge. Aztecs Sofia Ramos was blanked in the first half before she sunk a 3-pointer in a 34-34 draw, but UNLV responded with her 11-3 surge.<\/p>\n
Ramos finished with 10 points, increasing his career total to 1,736, three points ahead of Felicia Wright (1992-95) and second on the Aztecs’ all-time scoring list. Judy Porter (1980-83) tops the list with 2,315 points.<\/p>\n
Kim Villalobos scored a season-high 17 points for the Aztecs, going 7-9 from the field and Yammy Morris adding 10.<\/p>\n
SDSU limited current Conference Player of the Year Desi Ray Young to two points in the first half. However, she finished with 16 with 16 rebounds.<\/p>\n
The Aztecs finished 68-64 with 4:09 remaining, but gave up the next six points to stave off any further reversals.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are more important than other teams,\u201d Avinger said. “It’s about improving every day.”<\/p>\n
The Aztecs, who were seventh in the 11-team conference last season (8-10), have the most wins since 2012-13 and surpass the 15-win milestone set last season (15-16). I’m on track to get better.<\/p>\n
Thien is a freelance writer.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n