Nov. 3, 2000
SAN DIEGO - Junior guard Claire Swinbank scored 12 points and junior center Atim Otii cleared the glass for a game-high 13 rebounds, but it wasn't enough to overcome an experienced Slovakian squad from Cassovia Bardejov as San Diego State dropped its exhibition opener, 67-53, Friday night at Cox Arena.
"I really liked what I saw from our team, especially in the first half," said head coach Barb Smith. "The toughest thing for us tonight was their match-up zone, which we had not practiced against. We had trouble scoring against it and we also gave up a lot of turnovers."
The Aztecs, who outrebounded Cassovia, 53-28, trailed by just 35-32 at intermission. However Cassovia, which had four players finish in double figures led by Alzbeta Czakova's 16 points, opened the second half with a 14-2 run and never looked back, leading by as many as 21.
SDSU, which shot 55 percent (15-for-27) in the opening stanza, cooled off significantly after the break, connecting on just 6-of-28 shots (21 percent). And though the Aztecs also committed 33 turnovers, they played solid defense limiting Cassovia to 16 fewer points than they scored Thursday night in a 95-83 loss at Pepperdine.
"Our goal was to keep them under 60 points," Smith added. "But overall I was happy with our effort on the defensive end."
Senior Anita Bundage chipped in with nine points and 11 rebounds and led the Aztecs on a 9-0 run over to pull the Aztecs within 12 with 30 seconds to play, but SDSU could get no closer.
San Diego State closes out its exhibition season on Sunday, Nov. 13, when the Aztecs take on the NWBL All-Stars at Cox Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.