Dec. 21, 2000
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California Golden Bears (3-5) at
San Diego State Aztecs (4-5)
DAY/DATE: Friday, Dec. 22, 2000
PLACE: Cox Arena at Aztec Bowl (12,414), San Diego, Calif.
TIME: 7 p.m. PST
SERIES: Aztecs lead, 3-1
WEBCAST: Friday night's game versus California can be heard live over the Internet at www.goaztecs.com. Dan Lawton will handle the play-by-play for all road contests with Bill Earley (p-b-p) and Tammy Blackburn (analysis) calling the home webcasts.
San Diego State Storyline
Fresh off an 84-47 victory Monday night over Cal State Fullerton, San Diego State continues its three-game home stand Friday, Dec. 22, when the Aztecs host California. The game provides the Aztecs (4-5) with their second opportunity in the last two games to level their record at .500. SDSU's win over Cal State Fullerton snapped a two-game losing streak. It was also the 30th career win for head coach Barb Smith at SDSU. San Diego State has now won three of its last five and four of seven after opening the season with a pair of losses. The Aztecs also improved to 2-1 in Cox Arena on the year.
A Quick Look At The Aztecs
San Diego State enters Friday night's tilt against California with a 4-5 overall record after posting an 84-47 victory over Cal State Fullerton Monday. The 37-point win was SDSU's biggest since the Aztecs defeated San Jose State, 89-51, on Jan. 28, 1999 -- a span of 45 games.
* SDSU is also looking to get back to .500 for the second time this season. The Aztecs leveled their record at 3-3 earlier in the year with a 60-43 victory over Alcorn State at the Unilever Lady Tiger Classic before dropping back-to-back games at Missouri and San Jose State. A victory over the Golden Bears Friday night would move put the Aztecs at .500 after 10 game for the first time during the Barb Smith era. The last time SDSU was .500 after 10 games was during the 1996-97 season when the Aztecs opened 5-5. SDSU went on to finish the '96-97 season 23-7, won the Western Athletic Conference Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
* For just the third time this season, the Aztecs had four players finish in double figures versus Cal State Fullerton, including junior Missy Schomaker, who led all scorers with a career-high 20 points. Junior Tanisha Knight added 11 to extend her double-digit scoring streak to nine games, while Claire Swinbank and Jamey Cox finished with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Knight, who paced SDSU on the glass with nine boards, just missing her first-career double-double, continues to lead the Aztecs in both scoring (14.0 ppg) and rebounding (5.8 rpg)
About California
For the second straight game, San Diego State will face a first-year head coach when Caren Horstmeyer brings her Golden Bears to Cox Arena Friday night. Cal (3-5) has gotten off to a slow start in 2000-01, despite boasting a veteran line up that includes seven seniors and two juniors. Still, the Bears are 3-3 in their last six games, with the three losses coming by a combined 11 points.
* Senior guard Courtney Johnson, who scored a career-high 32 points in Cal's 77-73 loss to Santa Clara, has paced the Bears offensively thus far and is averaging a team-leading 15.9 ppg average. Junior center Ami Forney leads Cal on the boards and is averaging 7.9 rpg.
* Prior to her arrival at Cal, Horstmeyer served as head coach at Santa Clara, compiling 221-124 (.641) record and leading the Broncos to six postseason appearances, including four NCAA berths.
Series Shorts Friday's game will be the fifth all time between San Diego State and California but the first since Dec. 3, 1995. The Aztecs lead the series by a 3-1 margin, however the teams have split their last two meetings.
SDSU Versus The Pac-10 San Diego State will be out to snap a six game losing streak versus the Pacific-10 Conference Friday night. The Aztecs have not beaten a member of the Pac-10 since SDSU opened the 1997-98 season with a 63-56 victory over Oregon State.
* San Diego State is 44-68 (.393) against the Pac-10. However, the Aztecs are .500 or better versus six of the nine schools they have faced (SDSU has yet to play Washington). Throw out SDSU's 10-45 combined record against UCLA and USC and the Aztecs are 34-23 against the rest of the Pac.
The Last Time We Met Jodi Nowlin-Tres scored 21 points and Olivia DiCamilli added 15 as the Aztecs defeated California, 82-70, in Peterson Gym on Dec. 3, 1995. Jennie Leander finished with 21 points to lead Cal.
* San Diego State took control of the game late in the first half, using a 10-2 run to take a 12 point lead with 3:35 to play. The Aztecs led 46-33 at intermission and by as many as 19 midway through the second stanza before Cal fashioned a 12-2 run of its own down the stretch to pull within nine with 3:43. v However, the Bears could draw no closer as SDSU connected on 5-of-8 free throws and forced a pair of Cal turnovers in the final 2:00 to hold on for the victory.
An Aztec Win Friday Would...
* Move SDSU to back to .500 for the second time this season.
* Get San Diego State off to its best start under head coach Barb Smith.
* Give the Aztecs five wins in 10 games for the first time since 1996-97.
* Give SDSU five wins before Jan. 1 for the first time since 1996-97.
* Improve the Aztecs' home record to 3-1.
* Be the first for SDSU over a Pacific-10 Conference team since Nov. 16, 1997 and snap a six-game losing streak versus the Pac-10.
* Improve the Aztecs to 4-1 all time versus Cal.
Last Time Out: Aztecs Roll Past Titans 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 last 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.
* 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 zone 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.
* Sophomore Jamey Cox, who had just two points at intermission, finished 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.
Heating Up, Staying Hot San Diego State's team field goal percentage took another jump following Monday night's 29-for-62 effort versus Cal State Fullerton. The Aztecs enter Friday's game shooting 45.5 percent on the season, tops in the Mountain West Conference and up significantly over last year's 40.4 percent connection rate.
* SDSU is also scoring 7.7 ppg more than it did a year ago and has already surpassed the 80-point plateau twice. Last season, the Aztecs never scored more than 80 points. San Diego State has also shot better than 45 percent in 5-of-9 games compared to a season ago when the Aztecs eclipsed 45 percent in just 9-of-28 contests
* The Aztecs have also shot better than 50 percent in 7-of-18 halves thus far, and have three times topped 60 percent in a half. The Aztecs shot over 60 percent in both halves versus Illinois State, to finish at 68 percent (32-of-47). That performance broke a 13-year-old school record, eclipsing the old mark of 65 percent (34-of-50) set on Jan. 19, 1987, versus Hawaii.
* Five Aztecs -- Bemi-Morrison, Bundage, Otii, McCartny and Vargas -- are shooting better than 50 percent from the field, including McCartny's league-leading 68.8 percent.
Getting Defensive San Diego State has held five of its nine opponents under 60 points this season, including four of the last five. That defensive effort appears to be working for the Aztecs as SDSU has won four of the five games in which its opponent has failed to crack 60 points.
* Cal State Fullerton's 47 points were the second-fewest scored by an Aztec opponent this season. Earlier this year, SDSU held Alcorn State to just 43 points.
* The Aztecs have also held three of their last four opponents below 33 percent shooting, including the Titans, who became the second SDSU foe to shoot less than 30 percent.
Turnovers Still The Key After struggling in the turnover department much of last season, SDSU has cut its turnovers over three per game in 2000-01 and have had fewer turnovers than their opponents in 5-of-9 contests. The Aztecs averaged 22.5 last year and enters Friday's game averaging 19.4.
* The Aztecs have already posted four games with 18 or fewer turnovers, including a season-low 12 at Portland State -- SDSU's fewest turnovers since committing just eight versus Pepperdine on Dec. 7, 1996. However the key stat remains which team has the fewest miscues. SDSU is 4-1 when it has less turnovers than its opponent.
Five-Finger Discounts One of San Diego State's most amazing turnarounds this season has been in the steals category. Through nine games, the Aztecs rank tied for second in the Mountain West Conference in steals per game at 10.22. SDSU picked off a season-high 18 versus Cal State Fullerton -- its most since snatching 22 against Fresno State on Feb. 24, 1999 -- and now has notched double-digit steals in four games on the year. Last season, SDSU averaged just 8.5 spg, good for seventh in the eight-team league, and finished with double-figures in steals only 10-of-28 games.
Slow Starts and Fast Finishes Through nine games this year, San Diego State has shown itself to be a second-half team. The Aztecs, who are averaging 64.9 ppg on offense, have scored more points in the second half of every game thus far for an average of 11.3 points more after intermission. SDSU's biggest second-half surge came versus Alcorn State, when the Aztecs doubled their first-half production (20) in the second period (40). Earlier this year at LMU, the Aztecs reeled off 17 more points after the break. Overall, SDSU has scored 59 percent of its points after halftime.
Who's Got Next? It looks as if Barb Smith has achieved her goal of having a much more balanced offensive team in 2000-01. The Aztecs have played just nine games thus far and already have had five different leading scorers. Sophomore Jamey Cox and junior Tanisha Knight have each led the way three times, while juniors Atim Otii and Missy Schomaker and freshman Nicolette McCartny have turned in high-point honors once. Schomaker was the latest to turn the trick, pouring in a career-best 20 versus Cal State Fullerton.
Good Knight! Just how big has junior Tanisha Knight been for the Aztecs since arriving from Central Arizona College? Knight, who has scored in double figures in all nine games, leads San Diego State in both scoring (14.0) and rebounding (5.8). In fact, her 14.0 ppg average ranks third in the Mountain West Conference.
* Most recently, Knight just missed her first career double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds against Cal State Fullerton.
* Prior to that, Knight posted an impressive four-game road trip. After opening up with 17 points in SDSU's win at Portland State, the junior scored 12 points against Alcorn State before pouring a team- and career-high 22 against Missouri. She wrapped up the stretch with a 16-point effort at San Jose State.
* SDSU's leading scorer in three of the last five games, Knight has also connected on 80 percent of her free throws (44-of-55, good for seventh in the MWC), and was an all-tournament selection at both the Pacific Bell Classic as well as the Unilever Lady Tiger Classic.
Cox Finds Cure for Shooting Slump -- Assists and Rebounds How do good players react when face with a shooting slump? They pick up the other parts of their game. After opening the season by leading SDSU in scoring in three of the first four games, sophomore Jamey Cox slipped into the first shooting slump of her career, scoring just 3.5 ppg over the next four contests. Instead of letting it get to her, however, Cox become more productive in other areas. At San Jose State, Cox grabbed a career-high eight rebounds and dished out a then-career-best eight assists. Her shooting touch returned against Cal State Fullerton, as Cox drilled 5-of-9 from the floor for 13 points, however she also served up a career-high 10 assists for her first double-double. Cox is now fifth in the MWC in assists with 36 (4.0 apg) on the season.
Scho-Time Debuts at Cox Arena Missy Schomaker finally unveiled the scoring punch she show while at Hutchinson Junior College versus Cal State Fullerton Monday night, pouring in a career-high 20 points on 8-for-15 (53 percent) shooting, including three treys. It was the second double-digit scoring game of the season for the junior forward and may have signaled a shooting thaw for Schomaker, who entered the game shooting just 32 percent from the floor
Swinbank Stepping Up After missing all of last season, junior Claire Swinbank appears to be regaining some of the consistency she show as a freshman. Swinbank posted her third double-digit scoring game of the season and second in the last three games Monday, finishing with 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting against Cal State Fullerton
Not your Typical Double-Doubles San Diego State has had just two players turn in double-doubles this season, senior Shannon Lee and sophomore Jamey Cox. However, neither was your typical double-double. While most double-doubles are of the points/rebounds variety, both of SDSU's this season have come via the points/assists route. Lee notched the Aztecs' first double-double this season and the third of her career with 10 points and 14 assists versus Illinois State. Cox got into the act against Cal State Fullerton with 13 points and a career-high 10 assists for her first career double-double.
Surprise Story Freshman Nicolette McCartny continues to lead the Mountain West Conference in field goal percentage at 66.7 percent on the year. McCartny, who has finished in double figure in 5-of-9 games and is third on the team in scoring (8.7 ppg), was at her best versus Alcorn State, finishing with a game- and season-high 17 points on 7-for-8 shooting. She came back the following night to score 14 against Missouri. McCartny's other double figure scoring games came at Montana (11), LMU (10) and versus Illinois St. (11).