Morris and No. 11 Aztecs do it again, upset No. 3 West Virginia 64-55

Once they got here, the Aztecs (23-10) completely dismantled No. 6 Texas on the Longhorns’ home court in the first round before surviving the defensive tourniquet applied by the Mountaineers, who were runner-up to colossus Connecticut in the Big East.

San Diego State is the lowest seed to advance beyond the second round of this year’s NCAA tournament. The Aztecs are going to the regional semifinals for the first time in school history.

“I didn’t have a problem with being an 11-seed. I was quite happy to be invited to the party,” San Diego State coach Beth Burns said. “We’ll come in the front door, the back door, climb in the basement window.”

The Aztecs guards were simply all over the place and the Mountaineers couldn’t keep up.

Morris scored six points in a 8-0 San Diego State run late in the second half after West Virginia had rallied to tie it 47-47.

“They had two guards as good as any I’ve seen in the Big East,” West Virginia coach Mike Carey said. “Especially Morris. She’s as good as any guard I’ve seen this year.”

Liz Repella scored 17 points and Sarah Miles scored 15 for the Mountaineers (29-6), who set a school record for season victories but once again failed to get past the second round of the tournament.

San Diego State led 36-25 early in the second before West Virginia slowly pulled its way back.

Miles tied it on a layup with five minutes left. But Repella air-balled a go-ahead 3-pointer on the next possession and the Aztecs put together the decisive run.

“At that point me and Quenese said to each other this is our last chance. We fought hard to make it to this point and there’s now way we’re leaving with a loss,” Morris said.

After Repella’s miss, Morris hit a mid-range jumper and followed it with a layup. After Coco Davis hit a jumper that bounced up and in just before the shot clock expired, Morris took a nifty pass underneath from Jessika Bradley and finished with another tough layup. San Diego State led 55-47 with 2:16 to play.

West Virginia tried to foul in an attempt to get back in the game and twice got within four. Quenese Davis made three of four free throws and Morris made four in a row to finish it out.

West Virginia, which struggled to shoot in the first half, hit 55 percent in the second to rally. But the rebounding that dominated Lamar in the first round wasn’t there. The Aztecs held a 34-31 edge on the board and also forced the Mountaineers into 16 turnovers.

“We played great defense today,” Morris said.