For one team, it was a trip to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. For another, it was a first step toward trying to reach that same stage again. All in all, Friday was a pretty good night for the San Diego State women.
Thanks to Cat Walker’s goal in the 39th-minute, the SDSU women’s soccer team defeated USD, 1-0, in Los Angeles to win its eighth-straight game overall and its first in NCAA Tournament play in 11 years.
The SDSU women’s basketball team, which reached round No. 2 of the Big Dance last season, opened its highly-anticipated 2009-10 campaign with a 64-42 victory at UC Irvine.
Beth Burns’ team was sloppy throughout, committing 26 turnovers, but led comfortably all the way behind 18 points, eight rebounds and five blocked shots from junior center Paris Johnson.
On the soccer pitch, things were much tighter for Mike Friesen’s club, which held on after Walker’s first-half goal to extend its unbeaten streak to 16 games. The Mountain West Conference champions (15-3-5) will meet host UCLA in the second round on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
UCLA, ranked No. 3 in the country, has reached the Women’s Soccer NCAA Final Four in each of the last six seasons. The Bruins (18-2-1) blew out Boise State, 7-1, in their Tournament opener.
Certainly slated to be a big underdog in Round Two, the Aztecs have beaten the odds all season, winning as many games this year as they did in the previous two seasons combined.
Walker, a junior midfielder from Folsom, had scored the lone goal in SDSU’s 1-0 win last weekend over BYU, which clinched the team’s first Mountain West title. Against USD, she scored her 11th goal of the season after taking a pass from Gretel Amman and blasting a shot into the net off the right goal post.
Junior goalkeeper Aubrey Southwick made four saves to record her 10th shutout of the season, SDSU winning despite being out-shot, 14-7, by the Toreros (12-7-2).
Paris Johnson Was The Aztecs' Leading Lady on Opening Night
Meanwhile, down the road in Irvine, the Aztecs hoopsters figured to be in for a routine season-opener, facing an Anteater squad that had won only seven games last season. But rather than looking as if it were ready for the bright lights of March Madness, SDSU’s performance had more the feeling of a dress-rehearsal.
Nevertheless, Johnson had her way on the inside at both ends of the floor, and All-American candidate Jene Morris added 13 points, including a pair of three-pointers. SDSU trailed only once, 2-0, then reeled off seven consecutive points to take the lead for good. Up 32-22 at halftime, the Aztecs went on a 14-2 run to blow open the game after the intermission.
But it was hardly a thing of beauty. Finishing with more turnovers than made baskets (22) can take the luster off any performance.
“To be honest it was kind of what I expected,” said Burns, whose team returns four starters — and four key reserves — from last year’s squad which finished 24-8, and earned MWC co-championship honors. “We’re working in some new players, and we’re doing a lot of different things offensively. Just like any other season, it will be a work in progress.”
One of SDSU’s key new additions, prized transfer Jessika Bradley, scored four points in her debut while leading the Aztecs with 10 rebounds. Bradley, a 6-3 power forward who played on the nation’s fifth-ranked team, Baylor, before coming West, was limited to only 20 minutes of action because of foul trouble.
Allison Duffy, an honorable-mention All-MWC pick her freshman season before sitting out last year due to suspension, was limited to 15 minutes because she was in foul trouble as well. Duffy, however, played well when she was in there, finishing with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
Senior guard Quenese Davis, the program’s all-time leader in assists, had six helpers Friday night – including an off-hand, behind-the-back pass for a fastbreak layup — and moved over the 500 mark for her career. Davis’ younger sister, Coco, the recipient of Quenese’s fancy feed, contributed four points, six rebounds and four assists.
Favored in the preseason polls to eventually become MWC champions, the Aztecs will first have to navigate a challenging non-conference schedule that will include games against 4th-ranked Notre Dame, 13th-ranked Oklahoma and four more games against BCS conference foes.
They’ll have to be sharper than they were on opening night to get through it. But the cast is in place. And the curtain has gone up successfully — even if the show was a little ragged.
– Ello –
