By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
Freshman forward Dionne Madjo scored 15 points, including five in the fourth quarter, as the San Diego State Aztecs held on to defeat the UTSA Roadrunners 65-56 Sunday afternoon in women’s college basketball.
In the game played at San Diego’s Viejas Arena, the Roadrunners bounced back from a dismal second quarter, rallied furiously from a 26-point deficit and cut the lead to five at one point early in the fourth.
It remained a two possession game for a few minutes, with UTSA (0-2) trailing by six points with seven minutes remaining. But San Diego State (3-0) steadied itself, started to attack with Madjo and Natalia Martinez and held on to remain undefeated.
The Aztecs knocked down 11 of 14 free throws in the period, including five of six by Madjo, a 6-foot-1 freshman from Luxembourg, to close out the game.
After dropping a 69-51 decision at UNLV on Friday night, UTSA made some major improvements in the second half against San Diego State, which should boost its confidence leading into a Wednesday matinee at home against the Incarnate Word Cardinals.
Tipoff is at 11 a.m. in the Convocation Center.
“I knew this was going to be a really challenging road trip for this group,” UTSA coach Karen Aston told the team’s radio broadcast. “We’re finding ourselves, kind of. I’m sure the first half was a little bit of a hangover from the UNLV game, and hopefully we learned some things about ourselves, some lessons.
“We definitely executed better in the second half. Guarded a little better. Just did everything a little bit better. So, hopefully we have welcomed ourselves to the season, maybe, in the second half.”
Both UNLV and San Diego State won 20-plus games and finished in the top 100 in the NET rankings last year, so opening the season 0-2 isn’t a disaster.
But it nevertheless hurts for a team that has high hopes following last year’s American Conference postseason title and trip to the NCAA tournament.
The Roadrunners pride themselves on being competitive in any situation, no matter the opponent, so a 26-10 third quarter can serve as a base upon which to build some momentum.
“I was proud of how we fought back,” Aston said. “We talked at halftime about, ‘Can we get to the third quarter under 15 (in the deficit) and we did that. We were under 10 at the end of the third quarter and gave ourselves a chance, really. We just had some mistakes, really, as far as reading the defense and … people trying to make a few more plays than really what was there.”
Aston agreed with a line of questioning from radio voice Neal Raphael that the third period might have been a glimpse of the team’s long-term potential.
“Yeah, we’ll get there. I’m sure that we’re all disappointed. I mean, no one wants to start off 0-2. But I knew we would have some growing pains.”
For the second game in a row, junior guard Damara Allen led the Roadrunners in scoring, notching 13 points and six rebounds. Redshirt sophomore forward Taylor Ross bounced back from a two-point performance at UNLV to produced 12 points and seven rebounds. She scored seven in the third period, hitting two for two from the field and three for three at the line. Adriana Robles and Idara Udo scored 10 apiece.
UTSA shot 36.7 percent from the field, an improvement over 26.7 percent at UNLV. Leading in field goal accuracy, Udo hit five for seven from the field, followed by Ross at four for seven and Robles at four for eight. In addition, several players hit the glass as the Roadrunners out-rebounded the Aztecs 34-24.
Udo and guard Kierra Merchant had five apiece and Praise Egharevba four. The Roadrunners pulled down 14 offensive boards, including three each by Allen, Ross and Egharevba.
Third quarter
Taylor Ross and Adriana Robles sparked UTSA in a 26-10 quarter as the Roadrunners surged into contention to pull off a remarkable comeback.
Down by 26 at one point early in the third, UTSA cut the lead to 47-39 going into the final period.
Ross scored seven points and Robles added six on a couple of three pointers. UTSA hit 10 of 18 from the field in the period while holding San Diego State to five for 12.
First half
Freshman Dionne Madjo, a 6-1 forward from Mersch, Luxembourg, came off the bench to score eight points in the second quarter, leading the San Diego State Aztecs to a 37-13 lead at halftime.
While Madjo was working her magic at Viejas Arena, the Roadrunners couldn’t generate any offense, hitting only two of 14 from the field in the second quarter. San Diego State dominated the period, winning it 20-4.
San Diego State opened the game by scoring six straight points. UTSA failed to score in the first six minutes, a drought that came to an end when Damara Allen hit a jumper with 6:14 showing.
In the next few minutes, the Roadrunners found their first rhythm of the half, outscoring the Aztecs in a 7-2 run highlighted by Kierra Merchant’s three pointer.
San Diego State, leading by only one at that point, rallied at the end of the period as guard Natalia Martinez hit a couple of threes. San Diego State went into the break with an 18-10 lead.
The Aztecs continued the onslaught in the second period. After Idara Udo scored on a put back with eight minutes left, San Diego State scored 12 unanswered points to make it 30-11. The Aztecs finished the half on a 7-0 run to make it 37-13 at intermission.
Records
UTSA 0-2
San Diego State 3-0
Coming up
UIW at UTSA, Wednesday, 11 a.m.