Nov. 7, 2001
SAN DIEGO - Senior Claire Swinbank poured in a game-high 19 points, including 15 in the second half, and classmate Morgan Vargas added 11 more for San Diego State, but it wasn't enough to offset a 13-rebound Team Concept edge on the glass, as the Portland-based AAU squad held off a gutsy second half Aztec comeback bid for a 78-61 win Wednesday night at Cox Arena.
Six Team Concept players finished in double figures, including former Aztec Mary Apiafi, who was one of four players to end the night with 12 points. Apiafi also grabbed eight boards to go along with a game-high nine by former Notre Dame star Katryna Gaither, as Team Concept finished the night was a 47-34 edge on the glass.
"They were a big and experience team and it showed in the rebounding totals tonight," said San Diego State coach Barb Smith. "We started off slow, which can happen during the first game of a season, but we really came together down the stretch and had a much better second half."
San Diego State shot just 21 percent and was outrebounded by 14 during the opening period, resulting in a 39-18 deficit at the break.
But the Aztecs rallied right out of the locker room after intermission, using a 13-2 run to pull within 10 points at 41-31 just over five minutes into the second half.
"The only way (Team Concept) was scoring early on was from their rebounding," Smith said. "In the second half we did a much better job of boxing out and getting rebounds and that is very encouraging."
Still, SDSU could never trim Team Concept's lead to single digits, despite shooting nearly 50 percent for the period and grabbing the advantage on the boards. The Aztecs pulled within 10 points on three separate occasions only to see Team Concept push its advantage out again.
Newcomers Ashonda Williams, Valencia Howard and Heather Wolf all saw action, with Wolf starting at the point guard spot in front of Jamey Cox, who is nursing an ankle injury and was limited to just 14 minutes of action by the coaching staff.
Williams led the Aztecs on the boards with a team-best eight rebounds, while Howard finished with six points. Wolf, who added six points on a pair of 3-pointers, was solid running the Aztec attack and had just one turnover in 26 minutes of work.
San Diego State caps its preseason exhibition slate on Saturday, when the Aztecs host the NWBL USA Elite at Cox Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.