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Dec. 2, 2001
Game No. 6San Diego State (3-2)
at TCU (3-2)
Sunday - December 2, 2001
Daniel-Meyer Coliseum (7,201)
Fort Worth, Texas
Tip-Off: 1 p.m. (CST)
Webcast: For the second consecutive season all San Diego State women's basketball games can be heard live over the Internet at www.goaztecs.com. Bill Earley (p-b-p) and Tammy Blackburn (color) will call all the home webcasts, with Dan Lawton handling the play-by-play from the road.
The Records: San Diego State improved 3-2 Saturday night with a 68-46 victory over Prairie View A&M. The win was the second in a row for the Aztecs. TCU is also 3-2 on the season and routed Prairie View, 103-23, on Friday.
In The RPI: San Diego State ended the 2000-01 campaign as one of the nation's most improved teams according to the RPI rankings. SDSU closed out 2000-01 ranked No. 134 in the RPI, an improvement of 95 spots over its ranking of 229 in 1999-00.
SDSU Coach Barb Smith: Smith (Ohio State '86) is in her fifth season at San Diego State. She owns an overall record of 42-70 (. 375) with the Aztecs.
TCU Coach Jeff Mittie: Mittie (Missouri Western '89) is in his 3rd season at TCU and owns a 44-24 (.647) record with the Horned Frogs.
Series History: Sunday's game will be the fourth all time between the Aztecs and Horned Frogs. SDSU defeated TCU, 63-51, the last time the two teams met and leads the series, 2-1.
Aztecs Wrap-Up Two-Game Swing Through The Lone Star State With Game At TCU Sunday
The San Diego State women's basketball team (3-2) closes out a brief two-game junket to the Lone Star State Sunday at 1 p.m., when the Aztecs take on TCU (3-2) in Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.
The Aztecs are coming off a 68-46 victory over Prairie View A&M Saturday night and have now won two in a row after opening the season 1-2.
TCU, which also enters the game at 3-2 on the year, snapped a two-game losing streak with its 103-23 rout of Prairie View A&M Friday night.
SDSU's victory over the Panthers marked the first time San Diego State has posted back-to-back wins since Feb. 15th and 17th of last season, when the Aztecs won home games over New Mexico and Air Force, respectively.
A victory Sunday would give the Aztecs three straight wins for the first time since December of last season, when SDSU put together a six-game winning streak.
The game will be the third this season away from campus for the Aztecs, who are 1-1 on the road this year, including a 74-60 loss at California, Nov. 18. Last year the Aztecs were 5-11 in games played away from Cox Arena, including a 1-1 mark in neutral-site games.
Overall, this season has already been an up-and-down campaign for the Aztecs. San Diego State opened the year with a thrilling 63-54 come-from-behind victory over Cal Poly before dropping back-to-back games at Cal and versus UC San Diego. SDSU rebounded to get things back on track with a four-point victory over Navy before beating Prairie View A&M.
What's At Stake For The Aztecs: A Win Would...
Improve San Diego State to 4-2 on the season, its best start of the Barb Smith era and its most wins through six games since the Aztecs opened the 1996-97 campaign 4-2.
Make San Diego State 2-1 away from campus this season.
Be SDSU's second straight win and third in four games vs. TCU.
Be SDSU's third in a row, marking its first three-game winning streak since the Aztec won six straight last December.
The Last Time We Met: TCU at SDSU
Senior Mary Apiafi scored 21 points and pulled down 14 rebounds and three other Aztecs scored in double figures as San Diego State defeated Texas Christian, 63-51, in Cox Arena on Jan. 4, 2000.
SDSU trailed by seven at the half and by as many as 12 with just over 11 minutes to play before going on a 17-3 run over the next six minutes to take a 48-46 lead, its first since the early minutes of the game. Jamey Cox, then a freshman, led the Aztec comeback, scoring eight of her 10 points during the spurt, including a pair of 3-pointers.
TCU, however, regained the lead and held a 51-50 advantage with 3:17 to go. But the Horned Frogs, who were held to just 36 percent shooting from the field, never scored again as the Aztecs reeled of 13 unanswered points, including seven of eight free throws in the final two minutes, to seal the victory.
Anita Bundage finished with 13 points and seven rebounds and Shannon Lee added 10 points and dished out a 10 assists for the Aztecs, who took a 2-1 lead in the all-time series with the win.
SDSU-TCU Series Shorts
San Diego State leads the all-time series 2-1.
The Aztecs have won two in a row over the Horned Frogs, both at home. TCU captured the only game played between the two team in Fort Worth, defeating SDSU, 83-68, on Jan. 15, 1998.
Aztecs' coach Barb Smith is 2-1 all time versus TCU, while Horned Frogs' coach Jeff Mittie is 0-1 against SDSU.
The Aztecs are 5-3 all time versus Conference USA schools. In addition to its 2-1 record versus TCU, San Diego State is 2-1 against Houston and 1-1 versus Memphis.
Howdy, Stranger
The 2001-02 season may be the first for the Horned Frogs as a member of Conference USA, however, not too long ago TCU and SDSU played in the same league. From the 1996-97 through 1998-99 seasons, both TCU and SDSU were members of the Western Athletic Conference. The Aztecs and Horned Frogs split their only season series as conference foes during the '97-98 campaign with each team winning at home.
Out Of Our League
Dating to the start of last season, SDSU is 11-7 (.611) versus non-conference competition, including its victory over Prairie View A&M Saturday.
A Quick Look At TCU
TCU enters Sunday's game with a a 3-2 record after drilling Prairie View A&M, 103-23, Friday. The Horned Frogs are averaging 82.8 points per game and have already cracked the century mark twice this season.
Three players are averaging double figures, including forwards Grace Gantt (13.8 ppg) and Sandora Irvin (13.6 ppg). Irvin is also TCU's leading rebounder at 11.0 rpg.
Welcome Home
There should be plenty of Texans cheering for the Aztecs Sunday when SDSU squares off with TCU. The Aztecs' two-game swing through the Lone Star State will be a homecoming of sorts for senior Claire Swinbank and freshman Maggie Sauls. Swinbank hails from Georgetown outside of Austin, while Sauls calls the panhandle town of Borger home. The Aztecs also recently signed two recruits out of the great state of Texas, 6-3 post player Tami Garnett from Arlington and 6-3 center Megan Bryant out of Austin.
Recapping SDSU's Win Over Prairie View
San Diego State won its second straight game and improved to 3-2 on the season with its 68-46 victory over Prairie View A&M Saturday night at TCU.
Three SDSU players finished in double figures, including senior Claire Swinbank and junior Ashonda Williams, who scored 13 points each. The pair has now scored in double figures in 4-of-5 games.
Atim Otii added 12 points and has also scored in double digits four times this season.
All 12 Aztecs who suited up for the game scored at least two points.
Freshmen Heather Wolf and Maggie Sauls each scored the first points of their collegiate careers, finishing with five and two points, respectively.
Junior Valencia Howard grabbed a team-high six rebounds. She has now led the Aztecs in rebounding three times this season.
SDSU shot 47 percent from the field and has yet to be held below 40 percent this the year. Prairie View, which shot just 39 percent, is the second SDSU opponent to be held below 40 percent.
The Aztecs also committed a season-low 12 turnovers, while forcing 26 by the Panthers, including a season-high 13 via steals.
San Diego State outrebounded Prairie View 33-32, marking the third time this season the Aztecs have outrebounded an opponent.
Shooting Like Stars
If the first five games are any indication, San Diego State should be tremendously improved on the offensive end this season. In the first five games this year, the Aztecs are a combined 122-of-277 (44 percent) from the field, up from last year's 42 percent and a dramatic improvement from the 39 percent the Aztecs shot during the 1998-99 season.
Brightest Of The Bunch
No one has been hotter in the early going for the Aztecs than forward Atim Otii. The senior is shooting a sizzling 71.1 percent (27-for-38) from the field, including a perfect 6-for-6 outing in game No. 2 at California.
As Easy As One, Two, THREE
San Diego State's biggest area of improvement on offense has come from behind the arc. The Aztecs shot a respectable 33.6 percent a year ago but are hitting over 40 percent of their 3-pointers this season.
Just Shoot Me!
San Diego State is not only more accurate from beyond the arc this season, it is also much more productive. Entering the TCU game, the Aztecs are averaging 6.2 3-pointers per game, nearly double the 3.6 they averaged a year ago. In the past two games, SDSU has knocked down 16 triples, including a season-high 11 versus Navy a week ago today.
Spreading The Wealth
Through five games the scoring has been spread around by San Diego State as no single player has notched double figures in all four contests. Three players have turned the trick four times each, including Atim Otii, Ashonda Williams and Claire Swinbank, while Jamey Cox has scored in double figures three times. All four are averaging double digits on the season. Last year, only Cox finished the year averaging double figures (10.7 ppg).
Where Have All The Turnovers Gone?
Hopefully the Aztecs also found a cure for their turnover troubles in the last two games. SDSU entered its game with Navy averaging 25.3 miscues per contest, but committed just 16 turnovers versus the Midshipmen and a season low 12 against Prairie View A&M.
Better On The Boards
San Diego State is also rebounding better than they did a year ago and is nearly dead-even on the boards through five games. The Aztecs have outrebounded 3-of-5 foes this season, including their last two opponents (PV +1, Navy +12).
Cruising To Victory At 60
Over the past two seasons, the number 60 has been key for the Aztecs. When San Diego State has held an opponent below 60 points during the last two years the Aztecs are 21-6 (.778). The formula has held in four of the five games thus far in 2001-02 as the Aztec held Cal Poly to just 54 points and Prairie View A&M to only 46 in two victories, but yielded 74 points in their loss at California and 63 points versus UC San Diego.
San Diego State did break form versus Navy, giving up 69 points in its victory over the Midshipmen.
No Containing Cox
Jamey Cox was in the zone against Navy and continued her role versus Prairie View A&M. The junior finished with team-high 20 points - the eighth time in her career she has reached the 20-point plateau - and was deadly from 3-point land, canning 6-of-11 treys on the afternoon. It is the most triples for Cox since she shot 7-for-10 from beyond the arc at CS Fullerton as a freshman. She continued her hot 3-point shooting versus Prairie View A&M, canning 2-of-5 from behind the line and has now made eight of her last 16 treys.
Don't Leave Her Alone Out There
Cox, who has connected on 38.7 percent (12-for-31) of her 3-point attempts this season, has now made 131 treys during her two-plus year career at SDSU and ranks No. 2 all time in that category.
Double-Double The Fun
Senior Atim Otii entered the 2001-02 season with two career double-doubles. In just four games this year, she has already equalled that number, putting up 16 points and 10 rebounds in the season opener versus Cal Poly and 17 points and 11 boards against Navy.
The biggest jump for Otii has come on the glass. The senior entered the season with 27 double-digit scoring games to her credit, but had just four double-figure rebounding efforts.
Getting Offensive
Through five games, Atim Otii has scored in double figures four times, including two of her top-7 most productive games. The team's leading scorer with a 13.0 ppg average, Otii is averaging nearly double her 7.9 ppg career scoring average.
And Just Try To Keep Her Out Of The Lineup
Despite entering the game with a very painful sprained wrist, Otii made her 61st consecutive start Saturday night versus Prairie View A&M. She is the only Aztec to start every game over the past two-plus seasons.
As Advertised
Junior-college transfer Ashonda Williams came to San Diego State with a reputation as a big-time scorer after pouring in over 1,200 points in just two seasons at Contra Costa College. Through five games, Williams has already finished in double figures four times, scoring 16 points versus Cal Poly, 13 versus UCSD, 14 against Navy and 13 versus Prairie View A&M. She is averaging 11.6 ppg to rank second on the team in scoring.
Making It Look Easy
For two years, the Aztecs have been looking for an outside shooter to compliment Jamey Cox. It appears that search is now over as newcomer Ashonda Williams continues to knock down shot after shot from beyond the arc.
Williams, who led the California state JC ranks in three-point shooting last season, has been more than solid since arriving at SDSU and leads the Aztecs in both 3-pointers made (12) and 3-point shooting percentage among players with at least 10 attempts (46 percent). Last week, Williams shot 54 percent from long range, hitting on 7-of-13 attempts, including a season-high four versus Navy.
Bank Shots
Claire Swinbank has gotten her final season off to a strong start. The senior guard has scored in double figures in 4-of-5 contests, including 13 points Saturday night versus Prairie View A&M and a season-best 15-point performance at California.
SDSU's top shooter from the perimeter thus far, Swinbank is connecting on nearly 45 percent of her attempts from the field, including 50 percent from beyond the arc. Swinbank is also tied for the team lead in assists with 24 (4.8 apg) and had a career-best nine versus Navy.
Swinbank's Hot Start Not Surprising
It should come as no surprise that Swinbank has gotten off to a strong start as no Aztec was hotter in SDSU's two exhibition games. The senior was the lone player to finish in double figures in both preseason contests, pouring in a game-high 19 points against Team Concept and adding a double-double (11 points/11 rebounds) versus USA Elite.
Scho-Shines
Missy Schomaker hasn't yet cracked the starting lineup, but the senior has supplied some solid minutes off the bench thus far. Schomaker had her best outing versus UC San Diego, scoring a team-high 13 points and grabbing a career-best eight rebounds in 29 minutes of work versus the Tritons. She came back with a big trey versus Navy and contributed five rebounds in the SDSU win.
It's A Rebounding Thang
Junior-college transfer Valencia Howard has been a welcome addition at SDSU - especially in the rebounding department. Through five contests, Howard leads the Aztecs in rebounding with a 6.2 boards per game average despite not making a single start.
Howard opened the year with a splash, gathering 10 caroms in the season opener versus Cal Poly to share game-high honors. She followed up that performance with eight boards against Navy and six versus Prairie View A&M and has now led the Aztecs in rebounding in 3-of-5 games.
Post Presence
Coaches said Morgan Vargas was going to be the Aztecs' most improved player in 2001-02 and they were right on. Vargas, who made only one start and averaged just over six minutes in 21 games a year ago, started both preseason games as well as all five regular season contests and appears to be adjusting well to her new role.
Vargas scored 11 points versus Team Concept and added eight against USA Elite. She also grabbed seven boards in the two preseason exhibition games.
The senior has been nearly as good in the regular season, scoring six points and grabbing a career-best six rebounds versus Cal Poly and adding a career-high eight points versus UCSD. She also had six points Saturday night against Prairie View A&M.
On The Injury Front
It may be early, but the Aztecs have already been bitten pretty hard by the injury bug. Sophomore forward/center is still struggling with an ankle injury suffered in practice Nov. 3rd and may not return to the SDSU lineup for another two weeks.
The prognosis is better for freshmen Maggie Sauls and Heather Wolf. Sauls, who suited up for the first time versus Prairie View A&M due to an MCL injury appears to be back as does Wolf, who played 15 minutes off the bench versus the Lady Panthers.
First Timers
There's something about firsts that makes you always remember them. First love, first car, you name it. And freshmen Heather Wolf and Maggie Sauls will likely never forget Saturday's game versus Prairie View A&M as each tallied their first collegiate points.
Wolf, who has been hampered by and ankle injury all season, scored five points, including hitting 3-of-4 from the free throw line.
Sauls has been limited thus far by an MCL strain and suited up for the first time versus the Lady Panthers. Inserted into the game late in the second half, the Texas native knocked down her first collegiate shot from just outside the right elbow. She finished with two points.
On The Horizon
After playing six games in the first 17 days of the season, including Sunday's tilt at TCU, the Aztecs will play just once in the next two weeks as SDSU prepares for final exams. Following the TCU game, the Aztecs have four days to get ready for Thursday's home game versus San Jose State. After the SJSU game, San Diego State will not return to the hardwood until Dec. 16th, when the Aztecs host Sacramento State at Cox Arena. San Jose State will be a familiar face for the Aztecs, who have done battle with the Spartans 17 times. And though SDSU leads the all-time series by a 14-3 margin, the Aztecs will have revenge on their minds after last year's 59-54 loss in San Jose.