Aztecs move on to the finals

Third-seeded San Diego State has performed below expectations for much of the year.
The Lady Aztecs have a chance to erase all of that tomorrow as they will play for the title in the Mountain West Conference women’s tournament after thrashing second-seeded BYU 77-47 in the semifinals on Friday afternoon.
The preseason pick to win the conference got 28 points and six assists from Jene Morris to improve to 20-10 on the season.
“We’re very excited about the position that we’re in, which is 40 minutes away from being able to go in the front door of the NCAA tournament,” San Diego State Beth Burns said.
.It is a place the Aztecs entered the season expecting to be, but Burns feels the team will have to win tomorrow to get a bid.
She said the team is playing very well right now, but it may have waited too long to find a rhythm.
“We can’t put a sense of urgency into somebody until (the players) are able to figure it out themselves,“ she said. “We had a little hiccup right in the middle of the season. The best news is obviously we rebounded and we’re playing better right now.”
Quenese Davis added 18 points and five rebounds for the Lady Aztecs, who led by as many as 30 points in the second half.
Paris Johnson had 10 points and five rebounds in just 27 minutes of action due to foul trouble.
San Diego State was able to turn 19 BYU turnovers into 23 points.
“I’m not real happy. This wasn’t the kind of game I wanted to have our team play today,” Cougars coach Jeff Judkins said.
BYU made just 1 of 14 attempts from 3-point range.
Coriann Wood scored 11 points and was the only BYU player in double-figures.
San Diego State will now play fourth-seeded Utah for the title at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Rematch

Utah and San Diego State also met in last season’s women’s title game.
The Lady Utes won their third MWC title by defeating the Lady Aztecs, 63-58.
It will be the sixth time Utah has been in the title game in the 11-year history of the event.

Thanks for nothing

The Mountain West Conference women’s coaches voted to adopt the current tournament format in order to protect the better teams in the league from early-round upsets that often led to teams being snubbed by the selection committee.
It was also aimed at making sure the better teams had more of an advantage as they tried to win the automatic bid.
The format gives the top two teams in the league a double-bye and moves them all the way to the semifinals.
Both of the teams that received the double-bye lost today in their first tournament action.
San Diego State coach Beth Burns said her team was in a bit of an advantageous position as the No. 3 seed because it had to play just one game and then got Thursday off as the men played their quarterfinal games.
The third-seeded team is the only one to get just one bye.
“To me, the three is the best normal spot because we have an off day,” Burns said. “To be able to play again, have a day of preparation and then play again is the normal rhythm of our season.”
San Diego State guard Quenese Davis said her team was more comfortable.
“It’s their first game back,“ she said. “We were already in a rhythm and we already had all the kinks out.”
BYU coach Jeff Judkins thinks the league may consider changing the format.
“I think it hurt both us and TCU. Both of us lost,“ he said. “It’s something we’re going to consider as coaches.”
A similar situation was seen in the Big East men’s tournament yesterday where three of the four teams that got double-byes were defeated.

Maturity aids Aztecs

San Diego State coach Beth Burns was happy her team didn’t panic when several fouls were called early in the game.
The game was being called a little tighter and I thought we showed maturity in that we were able to adjust to that,“ she said. “When our players were younger, they would have just kept reaching and making faces and becoming frustrated.”
As Burns made the comment, Jene Morris got a big smile on her face.
“I agree with what she’s saying,“ Morris said. “Two years ago, we would have been upset with the refs and stomping our feet and making faces. We’ve matured.”
The Aztecs responded by just not fouling anymore.
After several in the opening minutes, San Diego State committed just 12 fouls in the entire game.
BYU was whistled for 19 fouls and the Aztecs shot 23 free throws.

Up next

The men’s semifinals get underway at 6 p.m.
The two Friday night games will feature the top four seeds in the tournament.
Top-seeded New Mexico will get things started with a matchup against No. 4 San Diego State.
Each team won at home in the regular season.
The Aztecs survived a scare against fifth-seeded Colorado State yesterday, while the Lobos got a tough game from No. 9 Air Force.
Host UNLV will take on No. 2 BYU in the nightcap.
The Cougars got 45 points from Jimmer Fredette in a quarterfinal win over TCU last night.
The third-seeded Rebels finally found a way to knock off Utah, which has been their nemesis this season.
UNLV and BYU also split in the regular season, with the Rebels blowing out the Cougars at the Thomas & Mack Center last month.