ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands — First bit of good news from here in the beautiful U.S. Virgin Islands: the Chargers-Chiefs game will not be blacked-out on Sunday.
Bad news: if you want to see the Bolts, it’ll take awhile to get here. The San Diego State women’s basketball team, carrying its first national-ranking in 14 years, left San Diego at 4:30 Tuesday morning and after stops in Dallas and Miami, arrived here at 9:30 Tuesday night.
They also were rather late in arriving for their first game of Pacific Jam tournament, falling behind 30-9 in the first-half before a furious rally in the final eight minutes still left them short against fifth-ranked Notre Dame 84-79. Senior guards Jene Morris and Quenese Davis scored 32 and 25 points respectively, but the Aztecs couldn’t overcome a bad start that saw them miss 17 of their first 19 shots from the field.
SDSU trailed 44-29 at halftime, and was still down 15 with eight minutes to play. Sophomore center Paris Johnson had fouled out with only three points and three rebounds, but Morris and Davis were tireless in their attempt to bring the Aztecs back. Morris hit four three-pointers in the final six minutes and Davis scored on a driving layup to make it 79-77 in the final minute.
But Notre Dame’s Brittany Mallory hit three key free throws down the stretch to help the Irish (4-0) hang on.
“You want to play with the big teams, you have to come out ready to play the big teams,” said SDSU Coach Beth Burns, whose team fell to 3-1. “We were wide-eyed at the beginning and it cost us.”
Will the 3,400-mile, 13-hour trip still be worth it? It very well could be.
The Aztecs, who first drew national attention last December with a victory over No. 4-ranked Texas, could make seriuos inroads this Thanksgiving weekend as they get set to face No. 5-ranked Notre Dame, No. 20 Oklahoma and South Carolina in the prestigious Paradise Jam.
“These are the kinds of games that can really put you on the map,” said Aztecs coach Beth Burns, whose program has risen from the depths of women’s college basketball in just four short years.
Burns returned for her second stint at SDSU prior to the 2005-06 season and inherited a team that had not had a sniff of postseason play for nine years, or since Burns had left the Mesa to return home and coach at Ohio State. Her first season back, the Aztecs won just three games, none in conference play.
But point guard Quenese Davis was recruited prior to the following season, and transfer Jene Morris along with two-time CIF San Diego Section Player of the Year Paris Johnson, were added to the mix a year later. Now the three lead a team that tied for the Mountain West Conference championship last season and beat De Paul in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Morris and Johnson were first-team All-Conference selections, and Davis made the second team. This season expectations are even higher as power forwards Ashley Duffy (honorable mention All-MWC as a freshman before sitting out last season due to suspension) and Jessika Bradley (transfer from Baylor) have joined the squad.
The Aztecs opened the season 3-0 (including a solid 57-38 victory over Arizona out of the Pac-10) to gain their current No. 23 national standing. It’s the first ranking for SDSU since Burns’ ‘95 team finished No. 22. This weekend, they’ll be challenged to keep it.
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