After her team pulled out a 58-53 victory over USD at Cox Arena last year, San Diego State coach Beth Burns was pleased with something she saw in both teams that took the court.
“You can tell by the intensity of that game,” Burns said then. “Those were two teams with mutual respect.”
Burns and her counterpart at USD, Cindy Fisher, have more than once over the years expressed the hope that the other's program will be a success.
Well, any day but the one on which they face each other.
The next installment of what has become an emotionally charged rivalry between the Aztecs and Toreros comes tonight at Jenny Craig Pavilion.
Although SDSU (3-1) leads the overall series 25-6, USD (2-2) had won the previous five meetings.
There is no question Toreros senior Amber Sprague wants to defend her home court in her final meeting with the program's crosstown rival. The fifth-year player out of Mission Bay High is averaging 19 points and eight rebounds.
Last year, she scored 15 to go with eight rebounds against SDSU.
But the Aztecs had their own local products who were eager to perform. None were more potent than Allison Duffy (El Capitan) and Paris Johnson (San Diego). Although individually they couldn't match Sprague on rebounds, together they combined for 24 points.
Nicole Vargas: (619) 293-1390; nicole.vargas@uniontrib.com
