Jan. 9, 2001
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Game 14
Brigham Young Cougars (8-5) at
San Diego State Aztecs (8-5)
DAY/DATE: Thursday, Jan. 11, 2001
PLACE: Cox Arena (12,414), San Diego, Calif.
TIME: 7 p.m. PST
SERIES: Cougars lead, 11-8
WEBCAST: Thursday's game versus Brigham Young can be heard live over the Internet at www.goaztecs.com. Dan Lawton handles 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
Winners of five in a row and seven of their last 10, San Diego State (8-5) is coming off its most successful pre-conference run since winning 10-of-12 to open the 1995-96 campaign. The Aztecs now turn their attention to a challenging Mountain West Conference slate, beginning with Brigham Young (8-5), Thursday in Cox Arena at 7 p.m. Off to its best start of the Barb Smith era, SDSU will be out to snap a six-game losing streak versus the Cougars and open league play with a victory for the first time since 1996-97.
A Quick Look At The Aztecs
San Diego State continued its best stretch of the Barb Smith era Sunday, with a 67-59 victory at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Aztecs, who are off to their best start through 13 games since opening the 1996-97 season with the same record, have now won five straight, including a pair on the road, and are in the midst of their best 10-game stretch since the Aztecs closed out the '96-97 campaign with 11 consecutive wins before falling to Oregon in the NCAA Tournament.
Road Warrior Tradition Returning To Montezuma Mesa
San Diego State won its fourth game away from campus on Sunday, defeating Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 67-59. The victory moved SDSU to 4-4 on the road this year, including a 60-47 win over Alcorn State at the Unilever Lady Tiger Classic. Through 13 games, the Aztecs have already posted as many wins away from Cox Arena this season (four) as they had in each of the last two years combined. It is the first time San Diego State has won four pre-conference games away from campus since the 1995-96 season when the Aztecs went 4-2.
Home Cookin' Not So Bad Though
In addition to its improvement on the road, San Diego State has also performed better at home this season, winning 4-of-5 in Cox Arena. Last year, the Aztecs were 7-7 at home.
Learning To Win The Close Ones
After wining just 5-of-15 games decided by 10 points or less last season, SDSUappears to be learning how to win the close ones this year. The Aztecs are 4-3 in games decided by 10 or fewer points on the year and have won four of the last five. Included in those four wins are three road victories (TAMU-CC, Portland State and Cal Poly).
Aztecs Post Six-Game Non-Conference Turnaround
At 8-5, San Diego State is dramatically improved from a year ago when the Aztecs were just 5-8 in their first 13 games. The Aztecs' victory at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi improved SDSU's record to 8-5 and completed a six-game improvement from last year when the Aztecs were just 5-8 in non-conference games despite playing eight at home. This year, SDSU has played eight of its 13 pre-conference games away from campus.
Aztecs' Five-Game Winning Steak League's Longest
San Diego State's current five game winning streak is the longest current string of consecutive victories in the Mountain West Conference. UNLV, with four, is the only other team in the league to enter the week with consecutive wins.
Anatomy Of A Streak...Five and Counting
After dropping a game it felt it should have won (a 59-54 decision at San Jose State), San Diego State returned home determined to set its season back on track. The Aztecs did just that, putting a 37-point beating on Cal State Fullerton before picking up a quality 63-49 win over California. SDSU wrapped up its homestand with a 58-50 win over Northern Arizona to complete its first ever three-game winning streak in Cox Arena. With a little confidence under their belts, the Aztecs returned to the road last week and extended the run to five games, picking up victories at Cal Poly and Texas A&M-CC.
About Brigham Young
Brigham Young enters the the first week of conference play with the same record as the Aztecs, 8-5. The Cougars, who have not played since falling to Nebraska, 56-53, at home on Jan. 2, are 1-2 since Christmas.
* BYU is 3-3 away from campus this season. However, the Cougars have lost their last two road contests -- 93-73 at Arkansas and 58-56 at Idaho State.
* Sophomore Erin Thorn, a 1999-00 second team all-MWC selection and league's freshman of the year, is the Cougars' leading scorer at 17.5 ppg, a figure that also ranks second in the Mountain West. Senior Caroline Beus is BYU's leading rebounder at 5.5 rpg.
* Head coach Trent Shippen is in his fourth season at the helm of Brigham Young's women's basketball program. The Cougars are 61-41 under Shippen, and last year made their first NCAATournament appearance since 1993, finishing with a 22-9 mark.
* Shippen has not lost to San Diego State during his tenure at BYU, leading the Cougars to five straight victories over the Aztecs, including three last season.
San Diego State-BYU Series Shorts
* Thursday's game against Brigham Young will be the 20th all-time between the Cougars and Aztecs.
* BYU owns an 11-8 advantage in the all-time series and has won the last six in a row, including all three last season.
* SDSU is 6-4 all-time versus BYU in games played on Montezuma Mesa.
* San Diego State has not defeated BYU since posting an 85-59 victory over the Cougars on Jan. 11, 1996, at home.
Last Year Was Ugly
If there was one team in the Mountain West Conference that presented match-up problems for SDSU last season it was BYU. The Cougars are the only MWC team San Diego State did not either beat or play with in 10 points of, capturing all three games versus the Aztecs. BYU twice held SDSU to fewer than 38 points and won the three meetings by an average of 30 points.
Common Enemies
Montana is the only common opponent to SDSU and BYU thus far. The Lady Griz got the best of both squads, knocking off the Aztecs, 68-58, in Missoula on Nov. 18 and defeating the Cougars, 70-67, in Provo Dec. 9.
Hey, I Know You
Thursday night's game will also see the return of former Aztec Kaly Gillette to Cox Arena. Now known as Gillette-Shippen after marrying the brother of BYU head coach Trent Shippen, Gillette-Shippen played in 25 games and averaged 6.1 ppg during the 1998-99 season at SDSU. After sitting out at year, Gillette-Shippen enters the conference opener on Thursday, averaging 4.9 ppg in 13 games for the Cougars.
For Openers
* San Diego State is 13-11 all-time in conference openers but 0-1 in MWC lidlifters.
* SDSU is in the midst of a three-game losing streak in conference openers. The Aztecs have not won a league opener since defeating San Jose State, 82-37, on Jan. 2, 1997.
* The Aztecs have opened conference play at home 18 times and are 9-9 in those games.
* As it will Thursday, SDSU opened both the 1990-91 and '95-96 conference seasons against Brigham Young. The Aztecs won both games, 74-70 in overtime on Jan. 10, 1991 and 85-59 on Jan. 11, 1996. Both games were played in San Diego.
Noting SDSU's Win At Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
* San Diego State improved its record to 8-5 with a 67-59 victory at Texas A&M-CC.
* The victory was SDSU's third in a row by 10 points or less.
* The Aztecs had four players finish in double figures for just the sixth time this season and just the third time in the last nine games.
* San Diego State outrebounded Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 37-30. It was just the fifth time in 13 games that the Aztecs have outrebounded an opponent. SDSU is now 3-2 when collecting more rebounds than its opponent.
* Sophomore Jamey Cox posted her sixth double-figure scoring game of the year and the 28th of her 41-game career, registering a co-team-high 14 points.
* Cox also led SDSU with six assists. She has now paced the Aztecs in that category for six consecutive games.
* Making only her second appearance of the season, senior Sophia Sledge came off the bench to score 14 points, including a pair of treys. It is the first time Sledge has finished in double figures in almost two years.
* Junior Atim Otii broke out of a recent slump, finishing with 11 points and a game-high eight rebounds. It is the first time Otii has scored in double figures since finishing with 14 on Nov. 28 at Portland State -- a span of eight games. Its the Defense, Stupid! Its not so difficult to figure out why San Diego State has won five in a row and seven of its last 10 games. DEFENSE! The Aztecs have held eight of their 13 opponents under 60 points this season, including seven of the last nine. During SDSU's five-game winning streak, opponents are shooting just 33.8 (90-of-266) percent from the floor, including a paltry 18.8 percent (12-of-64) from three-point distance. The Aztecs are 8-1 on the year when holding an opponent under 65 points.
Something's Gotta Give
San Diego State enters Thursday's game versus Brigham Young as the Mountain West Conference's leader in 3-point field goal percentage defense at .283. The Cougars are the league's top three-point shooting team, connecting on over 40 percent (91-of-225) of their attempts from beyond the arc.
Heating Up, Staying Hot...
San Diego State shot a combined .481 from the field in last week's two games and enters conference play shooting .444 for the season, second in the Mountain West Conference and up significantly over last season with the Aztecs connected on just 40.4 percent of their shots.
* SDSU has shot better than 50 percent in eight halves and over 45 percent in 7-of-13 games, including shooting 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. The Aztecs eclipsed 45 percent as a team in just 9-of-28 contests last season.
...And That Translates Into More Points
SDSU is also scoring 7.8 more points per game 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.
Getting Defensive
The Aztecs have held six of their last eight opponents below 37 percent shooting, including Cal Poly, which became the third SDSU foe this season to shoot less than 30 percent from the field. Earlier this year, the Aztecs held both Alcorn State and Cal State Fullerton below 30 percent from the floor.
Hard To Get The Three
Through 13 games, San Diego State has proven itself to be the toughest team in the Mountain West Conference to sink a three-pointer against. Heading into league action on Thursday versus BYU, Aztec opponents are shooting just 28.3 percent from beyond the arc and, in the last six games, have connected on only 12 of their last 75 attempts (16.0 percent).
Five-Finger Discounts
One of San Diego State's most amazing turnarounds this season has been in the steals category. Through 13 games, the Aztecs rank second in the Mountain West Conference in steals per game at 9.77. SDSU picked off 10 against Cal and 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 six 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 in only 10-of-28 games. A pair of Aztecs rank among the Mountain West's leaders in steals per game: Tanisha Knight (3rd) and Shannon Lee (10th).
Turnovers Still The Key
After struggling in the turnover department much of last season, SDSU has cut its turnovers in excess of three per game in 2000-01 and have had fewer turnovers than their opponents in 7-of-13 contests. The Aztecs averaged 22.5 turnovers per game last year and enter Sunday's game averaging 19.2. The Aztecs have already posted six 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 6-1 when it has less turnovers than its opponent. That being said, the Aztecs enter Thursday's game having won back-to-back games with more turnovers than an its opponent. At Cal Poly, SDSU committed 19 miscues compared to 18 by the Mustangs and at TAMU-CC, the Aztecs had 20 to the Islanders 18.
She's Baaack!
After missing all of last season with a torn left ACL and the first 11 games of the current campaign with a severely broken left thumb (39 games in all), senior Sophia Sledge finally returned to the Aztecs' lineup last week. After getting her feet wet at Cal Poly (0 points in four minutes of work), Sledge showed why she was SDSU's leading scorer during the 1998-99 season, connecting on 6-of-10 from the field, including a pair of treys, to finish with a co-team-high 14 points. She also had two boards, two assists and two steals versus the Islanders. It is the first time she has scored in double figures since posting 10 points versus BYU Feb. 13, 1999 and the most points Sledge has scored since finishing with 19 against Fresno State on Jan. 28 of the same season.
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 11-of-13 games, leads San Diego State in both scoring (12.8) and rebounding (6.1). In fact, Knight ranks in the MWC's top 10 in four separate categories: Scoring (6th), Steals (5th), Blocks (3rd) and Rebounding (8th).
* During SDSU's recent homestand, Knight scored a game-high 15 points and grabbed a team-leading seven boards against California. The junior just missed her first career double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds against Cal State Fullerton to open the homestand, but came back to turn the trick with 12 points and 10 boards versus Northern Arizona.
* 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 four games, Knight has also connected on 77 percent of her free throws (60-of-78) and was an all-tournament selection at both the Pacific Bell Classic and the Unilever Lady Tiger Classic.
Getting That Scoring Touch Back
Sophomore Jamey Cox appears to have regained her scoring touch. After averaging just 3.5 ppg during a four-game stretch from Nov. 25 through Dec. 6, Cox has finished in double figures in four of the last five, twice leading SDSU in scoring and averaging 11.6 ppg. Last season, Cox averaged 13.7 ppg en route to all-newcomer team honors. She continued that streak to open 2000-01, averaging 13.8 ppg in SDSU's first four games this season before going into a four-game funk.
Otii Gets Back On Track At Corpus Christi
After not scoring in double figures for eight games, junior Atim Otii found her game in the most unlikely places --Texas' Gulf Coast. Otii, who last finished in double-digits at Portland State with 14 points, scored 11 at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for her fourth double-figure scoring game of the season. Otii also grabbed eight boards versus the Islanders, the most since hauling down 11 at San Jose State.
Swinbank Heating Up
Junior Claire Swinbank finished with 13 points, all in the second half, at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, and has now scored in double digits five times this season, including three of the Aztecs' last five games.
Bundage Bounces Back
After getting off to a slow start in 2000-01, senior Anita Bundage has come on strong in the last four games. Against California, Bundage came off the bench to score 11 points. She did herself one better against NAU, collecting her third career double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. At Cal Poly, Bundage led SDSU in rebounding for the second straight game with seven boards. She also had eight points versus the Mustangs.