Nov. 30, 2002
FRESNO, Calif. - Fresno State's Omelogo Udeze had a game-high 18 points to lead the Bulldogs past the San Diego State women's basketball team, 59-49, Saturday in the Fresno State Classic championship game at the North Gymnasium. With loss, SDSU fell to 2-2 on the season, while the Bulldogs improved to 2-2.
Aztec senior Jamey Cox (Waterloo, Iowa) finished with a team-best 23 points, becoming the 16th player in SDSU history to reach the 1,000-career point mark and the first since Jodi Nowlin-Tres, who put up 1,089 from 1994-97. Cox's 23-point outburst was the third time this season that the guard has reached the 20-point barrier, tallying 23 in the tournament opener against Murray State after pouring in 26 in the season-opener versus Centenary.
Cox's classmate Valencia Howard (Richmond, Calif.), meanwhile, posted her first career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out.
The Aztecs began the game by keeping the Bulldogs off the scoreboard through the first three minutes, taking a 3-0 lead, which could have been bigger had SDSU taken advantage of its eight free throw shot opportunities by the 15:45 mark.
Fresno State then went on a 8-1 run to go ahead 8-4 with the help of a three-point play by Veronica Mack and a three-point field goal from Lindsay Logan. The Aztecs responded to get to within one on a Cox three-pointer off an in-bound pass, but the Bulldogs once again moved their lead out to four at 11-7.
SDSU came all the way back to tie the score at 11, but a pair of Fresno State seven-point runs, including one to end the half, gave the Bulldogs the 28-19 edge into the locker room.
The Bulldogs kept their momentum into the second half, widening their advantage early to as many as 12 points twice, SDSU cut the lead to as little as eight at 38-30 on back-to-back buckets by junior Nicolette McCartny (Chicago, Ill.).
The Aztecs would get to within eight points again at 34-42 and later nine points at 40-49 at the 3:48 mark, but Fresno State stayed with its consistent game, going up by 11 at 51-40 with 3:24 remaining.
Behind Cox's nine straight points, including two, three-pointers, SDSU made a late run to close the gap to seven with just over two minutes, Fresno State's slimmest margin since the first play of the second half.
The Aztecs ended up running out of time, however, at the end as Udeze finished out the game with a pair of foul shots for the 59-49 win.
Cox and Howard were chosen for the all-tournament team, while Logan was named MVP.
SDSU will head to San Diego for the entire month of December, beginning with a game with UC Irvine Wednesday night at Cox Arena, beginning at 7:05 p.m.
Fresno State Classic - All Tournament Team
Jamey Cox - SDSU
Valencia Howard - SDSU
Lori Trumblee - Murray State
Omelogo Udeze - Fresno State
Angel Mason - Butler
MVP - Lindsay Logan - Fresno State