SAN DIEGO ? The San Diego State women?s basketball team rode a pair of freshmen to its first win of the season Friday night, defeating Indiana State 53-39 in the first round of the 1999 Pacific Bell Classic at Cox Arena.
Newcomer Jamey Cox poured in a game-high 16 points and fellow freshman Kacee Wheeler added 11 for the Aztecs (1-2), who face Missouri, a 67-48 winner of Portland State earlier in the evening, in tomorrow?s 1 p.m. championship game.
?Tonight?s win was a total team effort,? said SDSU head coach Barb Smith, whose Aztecs trailed 22-20 at halftime. ?This team just won?t roll over. We?ve played great in the second half of games so far this season and when the shots start to fall for us like they did after halftime tonight, we are tough to beat. Especially with the kind of defense we play.?
Indiana State (1-1) was held to its lowest offensive output since the Sycamores scored 26 in loss to Old Dominion in the 1996 season opener, a span of 83 games. For the game, ISU shot 14- for-49 (.286) from the field, including just 7-for-26 (.269) in the second half, and was out of sync most of the evening.
San Diego State, which shot just 24 percent in the first half, finally got untracked with 16:51 to play, outscoring Indiana State 27-3 over the next 12:17 to take a 52-32 lead with 4:04 remaining in the game.
Wheeler, who finished the regular season home opener a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line, sunk a pair from the charity stripe to get the run started and closed out the spurt with four more. In all, seven different Aztecs scored during the run, including Cox, who knocked down a pair of three pointers.
Senior Mary Apiafi led SDSU on the glass with game-high nine rebounds, while junior Shannon Lee dished out a game-best six assists.
San Diego State 53, Indiana State 39
San Diego State (1-2)
Bundage 3-12 0-0 6, Otii 3-4 0-2 6, Apiafi 1-3 3-3 5, Lee 3-8 1-3 4, Cox 5-15 3-3 16, Hayes 0-20-0 0, Wheeler 1-7 8-8 11, Kiesling 1-1 0-1 2. Totals 17-52 15-20 53.Indiana State (1-1)
Mennen 4-12 0-0 9, Stringham 0-0 2-2 2, Brauman 4-10 3-5 11, Robinson 0-2 0-0 0, Shelton 0-4 1-21, Kirby 1-5 0-0 3, Rhodes 1-1 0-0 2, Evans, 1-4 1-2 3, Battle 2-4 1-5 5, Steward 1-7 1-3 3. Totals 14-49 9-19 39.Halftime?ISU 22, SDSU 20. 3-Point Goals?ISU 2-8 (Mennen 1-3, Kirby 1-2, Robinson 0-1, Evans 0-2), SDSU 4-9 (Cox 3-5, Wheeler 1-3, Bundage 0-1). Fouled out?None. Rebounds?ISU 40 (Brauman 9),SDSU 40 (Apiafi 9). Assists?ISU 10 (Shelton 3), SDSU 11 (Lee 6). Fouls?ISU 21, SDSU?22.Attendance?869.