Feb. 19, 2000
SAN DIEGO - Freshman Jamey Cox poured in a game-high 18 points and senior Mary Apiafi added 16 in her final game in Cox Arena as San Diego State cruised to a 70-38 victory over Air Force Saturday afternoon.
Freshman Kacee Wheeler also finished in double figures with 10 points and sophomore Atim Otii pulled down a game- and season-high 11 rebounds for the Aztecs, who improved to 8-16 (3-8 Mtn. West) with the victory.
Mollie Peters led Air Force (4-19, 1-9 Mtn. West) with 17 points.
"It felt good to have complete control of the game," said SDSU head coach Barb Smith following the Aztecs largest win of the season. "It's been a long time since we've been able to empty the bench and it was nice to get everyone some playing time."
All nine Aztecs who dressed for the game contributed at least two points to the win, including Carlsbad High School alum and walk-on Meredith Magrini, who tallied her first collegiate points with a pair of free throws.
The first 10 minutes of the game were tight, however, as the Aztecs managed just a 14-12 lead midway through the first half before going in a 19-2 run to take a 33-14 lead at the 5:12 mark. The Falcons responded with a five unanswered points, but SDSU scored 10 of the final 11 points of the half to take a 43-20 advantage into the locker room.
Air Force opened the second stanza with a 9-2 spurt to pull within 18 points at 45-27, but were held to just nine points over the final 16:06 as SDSU's lead ballooned to 32 points twice in the final three minutes.
But the real key to the game was the Aztec defense, which limited the Falcons to just 23.6 percent from the field on 13-for-55 shooting, the lowest shooting percentage of any SDSU opponent this season. Air Force's 38 points were also the fewest SDSU has yielded this year as the Aztecs allowed few second chance opportunities, out rebounding the Falcons, 44-31.
"We had a total team effort on defense today," Smith added. "At halftime I asked the team what were we going to hold them to. They said `38 points'. And that's just what they did. It was just a great effort by our kids."
San Diego State, which plays it final three games of the year on the road before heading to the Mountain West Conference Tournament, returns to action on Feb. 26 at UNLV.