Jan. 7, 2001
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Senior Sophia Sledge scored 14 points and sophomore Jamey Cox added 14 points and six assists in leading San Diego State to a 67-59 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in front of 1,050 a Circle K Court Sunday afternoon.
The Aztecs ( 8-5) have now won five straight, their longest winning streak of the Barb Smith era.
SDSU, which led all but three minutes of the first half, but trailed 30-28 at intermission, broke a trend of 15 ties and six lead changes with 14:23 to play, outscoring TAMU-CC (8-9) 15-3 over the next 5:50. An Islander three-pointer followed by a jumper by Atim Otti and a pair of free throws from Claire Swinbank gave SDSU its biggest lead of the game at 56 -45.
"We had a lot of close games last year where we didn't hit the big shot, or get the big board, or hit the key free throw," said Smith, whose Aztecs enter conference play with their best record of her tenure. "This year, all those things are happening and our ability to continue that trend will be the key for us the rest of the way."
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi closed to within five points twice in the last four minutes, but SDSU canned six of eight free throws in the final two minutes to seal the victory.
Otti, whose 11 points placed her in double figures for the first time since SDSU's win at Portland State, led SDSU on the boards with eight rebounds as the Aztecs finished with a rebound advantage of 37-30. Swinbank also finished in double figures, scoring all of her 13 points in the second half.
"We made some adjustments at half time that allowed us to get to the glass," Smith said. "But, it was our defense that really put us over the top."
Kristin Rogers led the Islanders with 17 points, most of which came in the paint.
But, the difference was SDSU's three-point shooting as the Aztecs connected on a season high of seven while holding TAMU-CC to just three of 17.
San Diego State returns to action on Thursday, Jan. 11, when the Aztecs open Mountain West Conference play against Brigham Young.
Tip-off at Cox Arena is scheduled 7:00 p.m.