Morris soared against New Mexico, as SDSU won its conference opener
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — She was the one who was named to all of the preseason All-American watch lists. She was the one who was named the Mountain West Conference’s preseason Player of the Year. Yet for the past month, Jene Morris was more than willing to allow her back court running mate, Quenese Davis, to grab most of the headlines.
As the Aztecs shook off a tough November by winning five of six in December, it was Davis who shined brightest, averaging better than 20 points per game and finishing off the month by being named the Most Valuable Player of SDSU’s Surf ‘N Slam Classic.
With conference play getting underway here Wednesday night, however, it was time for Morris to regain the starring role. Scoring 25 points, handing out five assists and recording three steals, the 5-foot-9 senior guard led SDSU to a surprisingly easy 61-39 victory over New Mexico. The Aztecs (9-4, 1-0) have won five straight heading into their home conference opener Saturday at 2 p.m. against Wyoming at Viejas Arena.
Once again, it appears that it is Morris who will lead them.
“Jene always comes out to play when the stage is brightest,” said Aztecs Coach BethBurns, who watched Morris carry SDSU to an NCAA Tournament victory last March with a brilliant 35-point performance against De Paul. “In non-conference play, teams were focused on guarding her because they didn’t know how good Quenese was. She was happy to draw the double-team and let “Q” do her thing. A team like New Mexico knows how good our other players are, so Jene had a little more room to operate.”
Morris scored 16 of her points after halftime as the Aztecs ran away from a tight 25-20 lead at the intermission. Davis, the Aztecs’ all-time assists leader, found Morris at the other end of the floor for three run-out baskets during a four-minute span midway through the second half as SDSU buried the cold-shooting Lobos (8-5, 0-1) witha 19-4 run. Davis finished with 10 points and six assists, bringing her career total to 565.
Though the senior guards frolicked on offense, it was tough, down and dirty work at the other end of the floor that allowed Burns’ team to win in blowout fashion against a perennially tough New Mexico team, which has qualified for seven of the last nine NCAA Tournaments and almost never loses at home in The Pit — especially by a 22-point margin.
The Aztecs swarmed the Lobos and forced difficult shots throughout the game. New Mexico hit only 9-of-30 field goal attempts in first half (30%) and was far worse in the second half (6-for-26, 23.1%). As a result New Mexico wound up scoring 34 points fewer than its season average (72.8 pts.) coming in.
“The neat thing is that we held them down in the first half, yet when we met at halftime, not one single player felt that we had played well,” said Burns, who presided over her 298th-career victory. “Everybody felt we needed to play harder in the second half, and then we went out and did that.”
Junior center Paris Johnson and junior forward Jessika Bradley controlled the paint while Morris and Davis created havoc on the perimeter. Johnson scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, and Bradley grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds. Coco Davis, Quenese’s younger sister, had five points and seven boards. Allison Duffy, back after sitting out the last three games, scored six off the bench.
Gaining far less attention than her scoring exploits, but just as important, was the job Morris did defensively against New Mexico’s senior guard Amy Beggin, who was held to a season-low eight points. In fact, not a single New Mexico player reached double-figures.
– Ello –
