Four Points

That most of the focus is on the tremendous newcomers to this years San Diego State basketball team is certainly understandable. Freshmen Kawhi Leonard and Chase Tapley — both big-time high school stars — are playing well beyond their years. Transfers Malcolm Thomas and Tyrone Shelley are contributing at both ends of the court.

But most agree that it will be one of Steve Fisher’s holdovers, junior point guard D.J. Gay, that will hold the key to the Aztecs’ success this 2009-10 season.

Somebody has to pull all the newcomers together and keep them on the same page. And Gay has been that guy, never more so than he was Saturday night in orchestrating a surprisingly easy 63-46 victory over Arizona at Viejas Arena in front of a sellout crowd of 12,414.

SDSU improved to 8-2 in winning its fifth-straight and at the same time posted a marquee non-conference victory over a team that had defeated them seven times in a row. Arizona (4-5) is young like the Aztecs and still trying to get its considerable talent to jell, but this victory was nonetheless a big confidence booster for State, which won for only the third time in its last 16 games against BCS-conference competition.

“I’m happy with the way we played, especially at the defense end of the court,” said Fisher, whose team held the Wildcats to just 35.6% shooting Continue Reading →

{ 0 comments }

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.

Continue Reading →

{ 1 comment }