Thing Of Beauty

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.

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If you haven’t had a date in, say 11 years, you’re probably in no position to be waiting for a night out with Jessica Alba — or even the Prom Queen. You ask, she says yes no matter who she is, and you’re going.

Alston Umuolo's Touchdown Catch Jump-Started the Aztecs' Comeback (AP photo)

Haven’t caught a fish in a couple of years, you’re not throwing it back even if it is a minnow. If you haven’t eaten in days, it doesn’t matter if the cheese is a bit moldy on your ham sandwich.

And if you’re the San Diego State football team, and you win your fourth game of the season in ugly fashion — as the Aztecs did over winless New Mexico, 23-20, Saturday night at Qualcomm Stadium — you simply say thank you very much.

SDSU, last to a bowl game in 1998, is certainly in no position to be picky. And so it is that despite playing poorly for most of the night, the Aztecs and their fans should look upon this one as a thing of beauty.

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