Over three seasons together in SDSU’s back court, seniors Quenese Davis and Jene Morris (right) have helped transform the Aztec women’s basketball team from bottom-of-the-barrel losers into conference champions.
Davis, who will graduate as the school’s all-time leader in assists, and Morris, the school’s No. 5 all-time scorer and all-time Mountain West Conference leader in steals, helped carry SDSU to a share of the MWC title and the second-round of the NCAA Tournament last season — with Morris scoring a career-high 35 points in a first-round victory over De Paul.
The Aztecs (17-10) have struggled at times this season to recapture last season’s magic, but led by their dynamic duo, still have a shot to run the table in next week’s MWC Postseason Tournament.
Before that, however, the pair of stars — who both came to SDSU from the Bay Area – sat down with 619Sports.net on the eve of their final regular season home game, Saturday afternoon (Viejas Arena, 2 p.m.) against Air Force.
Coco Davis Stepped Up Against Air Force With A Career-High 10 Assists
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Good basketball teams all have star players. Championship basketball teams all have something more important. Call them under-appreciated. Call them unsung. Or even the dreaded “role players.”
Just make sure that when you call them, they’re there.
The San Diego State women’s basketball team has a couple of very good ones, whatever you want to call them. Against Air Force here Wednesday night, power forward Jessika Bradley dominated on the inside with 13 points, five rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals, while off-guard Coco Davis set a career-high with 10 assists to go along with six rebounds. Together they helped to keep the Aztecs together in a 68-48 victory which closed out the first half of Mountain West Conference play.
SDSU (14-6, 6-2) sits atop the conference standings along with TCU (also 6-2 MWC). Both BYU and New Mexico are 5-3 and just one game back. The Aztecs will host New Mexico Saturday afternoon (12:30 p.m.) at Viejas Arena.
“For us to continue to be successful and to get the job done in the second half of the conference season, we’re going to need contributions from a lot of different players,” said SDSU Coach Beth Burns. “It was nice in this game to see everybody step up.”
The Aztecs, of course, are led by preseason conference Player of the Year Jene Morris and fellow first-team all-MWC center Paris Johnson. Senior point guard Quenese Davis, second-team all-conference a year ago and the school’s all-time assists leader, completes the triumvirate. Those three are the cover girls on the SDSU Media Guide, but Bradley and Davis — who’s Quenese’s younger sister — are equally important to SDSU’s success.
Bradley, a junior transfer from Baylor, leads the Aztecs in rebounding this season, averaging nearly eight boards a game and contributing the same number of points. When she’s helping to control the paint, as she did Wednesday, things open up even more for Johnson, who scored 17 points to lead SDSU against the Falcons.
Meanwhile, Coco Davis normally plays somewhat in the shadow of her big sister. But against Air Force (3-18, 0-8) she stepped center stage and allowed SDSU to pick apart the Falcons’ matchup zone defense with her pinpoint passing to the interior. SDSU scored 48 points in the paint, jumping Continue Reading →
D.J. Gay scored 17 points and led San Diego State to a key 64-52 on Saturday afternoon at Fort Collins, Colo., where the Aztecs held Colorado State to just 36.7% shooting. Meanwhile, the Aztec women used energetic “D” to force 35 CSU turnovers and move into a three-way tie for first in the MWC with a 59-38 win.
ShareAlways thought far too much is made about teams getting “payback” victories in the regular season over teams that beat them in playoff competition the previous season.
If the Chargers were to beat the Jets next November would that really be “payback” for the playoff loss last Sunday? Of course not.
Nevertheless, both the SDSU men’s and [...]
ShareWin number 300 was easy.
Getting to 300 wins, perhaps, not quite that easy. Hard work. Dedication to her craft. Passion. Demanding excellence. All of the things that have made Beth Burns one of the best coaches in San Diego State history.
Now she’s in the history books. Burns earned her 300th-career victory Wednesday night as her [...]
SDSU women’s basketball coach Beth Burns goes after her 300th-career coaching victory tonight at Viejas Arena when her Aztecs host UNLV at 7 p.m. Burns’ great success has come the old fashioned way — she’s earned it.
To see the Aztecs dominate defending SEC champion Auburn, 66-55, on Wednesday night to win their second consecutive San Diego Surf & Slam preseason tournament at Viejas Arena would only serve to strengthen the notion that this was going to be SDSU’s year.
ShareSenior guards Quenese Davis and Jene Morris, the unquestioned leaders of the SDSU women’s basketball team, came to Coach Beth Burns last week and said it was time to turn up the heat.
“They told me that they themselves needed to pick up their defensive intensity,” Burns said. “That’s music to a coach’s ears when your [...]
Quenese Davis is simply called “Q” by her Aztec teammates in reference of course to her first name, though the initial could stand for her quiet demeanor both on and off the court. She spoke loudly with her play Friday night, leading SDSU to a 67-62 victory over Long Beach State at Viejas Arena.
ShareJazmine Jackson, Pepperdine’s sophomore guard, reminds one of the Aztecs’ preseason All-American senior Jene Morris.
Both athletic, quick, strong, driven and 5-foot-9. Both wear No. 5. Both from the same neighborhood (or at least the same Bay — Jackson from Oakland, Morris from San Francisco).
In a tense, overtime non-conference contest Tuesday night at Viejas Arena, Jackson [...]
