January 15, 1999
SALT LAKE CITY - Utah rebounded from cold shooting in back-to-backlosses shoot 60 percent from the field and defeat San Diego State,74-60, on Thursday night at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. It was Utah'sfirst win in Western Athletic Conference play.
Playing without their leading scorer Erin Gibbons, who is outindefinitely with a pulled groin, the Utes used a balanced offensiveattack. Three Utes scored in double figures with Lori Red' 19-pointperformance leading the way. Red shot 7-for-11 from the field and had a3-for-4 night from three-point range. Red also pulled down four boardsand had two assists and two steals in 31 minutes.
Kristina Andersen had 12 points - making 7-of-8 free throwsand ateam-best six rebounds. Kristi Rose had 11 points and seven blockedshots (two off her school record). Tiana Fuertes made just one turnoverin the second half and had 10 assists and six points in 30 minutes. AmyEwert, getting her first career start in place of Gibbons, shot 3-for-4from the field for six points in 25 minutes. Ewert also had acareer-high four steals.
Atim Otti led the Aztecs with 10 points and had a game-high 12rebounds, including nine offensive boards. Charley Murray, Sophie Sledgeand Lee Shannon each scored nine.
Utah (10-4, 1-1 WAC) made 14-of-22 field goals and shot 54.5 percentfrom behind the arc (6-of-11). However, San Diego State (4-11, 1-2 WAC)owned a 37 to 30 edge on the boards and made 28 trips to the free throwline. Fortunately for the Utes, the Aztecs converted just 16 free throws(57.1%) and shot just 33.9 percent from the field.
"We rebound so poorly that we continue to get calls against us, and asa result we put people on the free throw line," said Ute head coachElaine Elliott. "But, all I ask is that we play hard, play with emotionand play aggressively on offense to make up for the things in whichwe're lacking."
The Utes, who had shot a combined 34.7 percent from the field in itslast two games, shot a season-best 60-percent from the field against theAztecs.
"Our shooting made up for our poor rebounding and the number of timeswe put people on the free throw line," commented Elliott. "That's beenthe case for us when we've been successful this season. I just cross myfingers and hope that we shoot well until we get better elsewhere."
With the Utes leading 35-27 at halftime, Red drained a three-pointerfrom the right side of the key to ignite a 9-0 run by Utah in the firstfour minutes of the second half. The U. lead grew to as much as 18points (49-31) with 13:47 to play.
San Diego State would not go peacefully into the night, however. TheAztecs got back within eight (64-56) with 3:32 remaining after Murrayswished a three. Fuertes answered with a three-pointer for the Utes, whooutscored SDSU 10-6 the rest of the way.
Utah hosts Hawaii, a 75-54 looser at BYU on Thursday night, Sunday atNoon in the Jon M. Huntsman Center.