Feb. 21, 2002
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The two lowest scoring teams in the Mountain West Conference played a shootout Thursday night in Clune Arena and it was the Aztecs who came out on top.
Claire Swinbank and Ashonda Williams each poured in 16 points and Jamey Cox added 15 as the Aztecs snapped an 11-game Mountain West Conference road-losing streak with an 83-79 victory at Air Force.
"We worked all week in practice on attacking their zone and we did a good job of working it and getting the best shots we could get," said SDSU head coach Barb Smith. "We just shot so well tonight. We really needed a game like this."
San Diego State (10-14, 2-9 MWC) led for all but 30 seconds of the contest and looked in control much of the way as the Aztecs shot 43 percent from the floor, including a sizzling 10-for-19 from beyond the arc.
Cox, who scored all of her points from 3-point distance, led the Aztecs outside assault, drilling five of her eight attempts, while Williams added three triples on six tries.
But the game was won at the free throw line, where San Diego State, the leagues worst free throw shooting team, converted 25-of-31 attempts, including 11-of-16 in the final three minutes, to hold off the Falcons.
"We did a great job of getting to the free throw line and converting," said Smith. "We just played a much better offensive game tonight and hopefully we can keep it going as we head toward the conference tournament."
Atim Otii, who scored all of her 12 points from the stripe, canned 12-of-14 from the line. Tanisha Knight added 8-of-10 freebies.
Falcon freshman Latoya Howell scored a career-high 30 points to lead Air Force (4-20, 0-11 MWC), which has now lost 36 straight Mountain West Conference games.
The Aztecs led by as many as nine late in the second half before Air Force rallied behind Howell, who had a jumper then a steal and a lay-up to cut SDSU's advantage to 79-77 with just 33 seconds to go.
But it wasn't enough, as SDSU hit four free throws in the final 30 seconds to seal the victory.
San Diego State closes out the road portion of its 2001-02 season Saturday when the Aztecs travel to New Mexico for a Noon (PST) tip-off in the Pit.