Dec. 18, 2000
SAN DIEGO - Monday night's game versus Cal State Fullerton didn't start out too pretty. But by the time it was all said and done the game just may have looked like a masterpiece to San Diego State head coach Barb Smith.
Smith, who installed a full-court zone press this week in practice, unveiled it against the Titans. The result: 32 Cal State Fullerton turnovers, including 18 resulting from Aztec steals, and an 84-47 SDSU victory.
And while the Aztecs were turning up the heat on defensive end, junior forward Missy Schomaker was catching fire on offense. Schomaker, who entered the game shooting just 32 percent from the field, broke out to lead all scorers with a career-high 20 points on 8-of-15 attempts, including three treys, as San Diego State (4-5) snapped a two-game losing streak.
"It's always nice to get a victory, especially a convincing one like tonight's," said Smith following SDSU's biggest win since defeating San Jose State by 38 on Jan. 28, 1999.
But as one-sided as the final score sounds, the game didn't start out that way. SDSU connected on just three of its first 13 shots and turned the ball over 10 times in the first 10 minutes of the contest as Cal State Fullerton (0-8) jumped out to an 11-6 lead despite having difficulty solving the Aztecs' full-court press.
Those difficulties turned into disaster over the final 10 minutes of the first half for the Titans as San Diego State got three lay-ups off of steals and a pair of free throws over the next 1:30 to take a 14-11 lead. The Aztecs, who ended the half by outscoring Cal State Fullerton 30-10 over the final 10 minutes, never trailed again and took a 36-22 lead into the break.
"We were getting turnovers with (our press) but we weren't converting early on," Smith said. "Once we settled in (SDSU had just eight turnovers over the final 30 minutes), we began to capitalize on the opportunities our defense was giving us.
"The first part of the second half was key. We were finally in a comfort zone and that's when we started pulling away."
Sophomore Jamey Cox, who had just two points at intermission, had a lot to do with the second-half-surge, finishing with 13 points and a career-best 10 assists for her first career double-double. Claire Swinbank and Tanisha Knight also scored in double figures for the Aztecs with 14 and 11 points, respectively. Knight led SDSU on the glass with a career-high nine rebounds.
The Aztecs also got a nice spark off the bench as junior Morgan Vargas, seven points, and sophomore Nicole Bemi-Morrison, five points, both tallied season-highs.
San Diego State returns to action on Friday, Dec. 22, when the Aztecs host California at 7:00 p.m. in Cox Arena.