Feb. 17, 2001
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State came into Saturday night's game versus Air Force looking to put forth a dominant defensive effort. The Aztecs also wanted to send seniors Anita Bundage and Sophia Sledge out with a big victory in their final home game.
I guess you could say they succeeded on both accounts as the Aztecs cruised to a 57-30 victory over the Falcons in front of 1,105 at Cox Arena.
The Academy's 30 points were its second fewest ever and the least scored by an Aztec opponent since SDSU held Hawaii to just 28 back in 1982.
Atim Otii scored 12 points and Tanisha Knight finished in double figures for the first time in conference play with 10 to lead SDSU (13-11, 5-6 MWC), which completed its first weekend sweep in league play in over two seasons with the victory. The Aztecs five conference wins are also their most in over four years.
"It was good to see us put together two good back-to-back defensive games," said SDSU head coach Barb Smith. "When we started pressing and got some turnovers we got into the flow a little bit better and were able to pull away."
Rozalyn Russ played the entire 40 minutes and finished with 10 points led Air Force (3-20, 0-10), which was held to a combined 12-for-52 (23 percent) from the field, a season low for an SDSU opponent .
San Diego State led 22-14 after a sloppy opening 20 minutes, before pulling away midway through the second half. Ahead 27-22 with 11:50 to play, the Aztecs outscored the Falcons 22-4 over the next nine minutes to forge a 49-26 lead with just over two minutes to play. That lead grew to as many as 29 points in the final minute of the game before an Air Force lay-up by Amoy Jackson provided the final margin of victory.
All 11 Aztecs who dressed got into the game as Smith emptied the SDSU bench down the stretch.
"We were finally able to get our offense going in the second half," said Smith. "We started having success with our inside game and at the same time they went cold and that enabled us to stretch out our lead."
Jamey Cox added eight points, all from the free throw line, and dished out a game-high five assists. Bundage finished with a co-team-high five rebounds and Sledge added six points to close out their home careers.
San Diego State plays its final three regular season games on the road, beginning with UNLV on Saturday, Feb. 24, at the Thomas & Mack Center. Tip-off has been moved from its original start time of 7:35 p.m. (PST) to 12:35 p.m. (PST). The game can be heard live over the Internet at www.goaztecs.com.