ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands — Jene Morris plays so hard on the basketball court, sometimes she sees stars. Those who have watched her the last three years at San Diego State simply see a star.
Morris’ tireless play nearly brought the Aztecs back from a 15-point deficit in the final seven minutes against fifth-ranked Notre Dame here Thursday in the first game of the prestigious Paradise Jam women’s basketball tournament. Morris hit four three-pointers down the stretch to finish with a season-high 32 points and added six steals as SDSU pulled within 79-77 in the final minute. The Irish (5-0) hit five key free throws down the stretch to hang on, 84-79, handing the 23rd-ranked Aztecs their first loss of the season.
Morris played 36 grueling minutes in the heat and humidity of the Virgin Islands’ Sports and Fitness Center and never let up, her great athleticism and will overcoming the opressive conditions.
“I was pretty much out there seeing stars in the second half,” said Morris, a senior from San Francisco who transfered to SDSU from California following her freshman season. “I just had to keep going.”
Less than 24 hours later, Morris had little left in the tank, scoring eight points to just miss becoming the 17th Aztec woman in history to reach the 1,000-point plateau for her career. The Aztecs fell to 20th-ranked Oklahoma, 87-48, to fall to 3-2 on the season.
The Notre Dame performance, howevere, has become commonplace to fans who have watched Morris lead SDSU out of the depths of women’s college basketball to a national ranking in just three short years. The year prior to Morris’ arrival, in Beth Burns’ first season back as SDSU’s coach after nine years away, the Aztecs won only three games. During her redshirt season of 2006-07, SDSU won 12.
Joining the starting lineup to begin the 2007-08 season — and playing alongside fellow sophomore guard Quenese Davis, Morris led a revival as the the Aztecs posted their first winning season in seven years at 18-13. She first flashed her brilliance, hitting six straight three-pointers and scoring a career-high 35 points in a regular-season win at UNLV.
SDSU nonetheless finished sixth in the Mountain West Conference standings. But Morris raised her game in the post-season conference tournament, leading the Aztecs to upset wins over Wyoming and TCU and a spot in the championship game, where she fouled out in the final moments of a close loss to New Mexico.
The dye had been cast.
“We knew when we got Jene, we were getting an excellent player,” said Burns. “But I don’t think any of us knew just how hard she worked on the court. And the thing that makes her great is that she works even harder off the court.”
That was obvious when Morris returned for her junior season, stronger and in even better condition than she was before. Last December she dominated every corner of the court, scoring 24 points and adding eight steals, as the Aztecs upset then fourth-ranked and undefeated Texas. That victory helped vault SDSU to a 22-6 regular season finish and their first berth in the NCAA Tournament in nearly a decade.
Morris then put on a tour de force performance in the NCAA Tournament opener, matching her career-high with 35 points as the Aztecs dispatched favored De Paul to reach the second round.
The rest of the country has begun to take notice. Morris was named to several preseason All-American teams and is on all three of NCAA women’s basketball preseason Player of the Year watch lists. She also has been tabbed the Preseason Player of the Year in the Mountain West. Not that any of the preseason honors have caused her to ease up.
“I think all of that stuff just makes her want to work harder,” said Burns, who always drives her team to the extreme but doesn’t have to worry too often about her star. “She battles every day in practice and she battles for 40 minutes in every game.”
And that’s what makes a star. And sometimes makes stars see stars.
– Ello –
