Jan. 25, 2003
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State women's basketball team lost the final contest of a three-game homestand to the University of Utah, 59-44, Saturday night at Cox Arena. The loss is SDSU's third straight, dropping the Aztecs to 6-9 overall, 0-3 in league action. Utah, which currently sits in first place with a 4-0 record in the Mountain West Conference, improved to 14-3 overall.
Freshman Amber Fouse (Compton, Calif.) led the offensive effort for SDSU, registering a team-high 12 points and four assists. Her performance was the guard's fourth game this season in double-figure scoring. Junior Nicolette McCartny (Chicago Ill.) contributed an additional 10 points for the Aztecs, who set school records for fewest free throws made and fewest free throw attempts, failing to go to the foul line in a game for the first time in the program's 27-year history.
It took nearly four minutes for San Diego State to get on the scoreboard in the first half, as SDSU's Tynisha King (Moreno Valley, Calif.) made a lay-up at the 16:12 mark after Utah began the game with a 6-0 scoring run. The Utes pulled ahead by as many as 11 points twice in the first 20 minutes of action, as the Aztecs committed nine turnovers and shot 33 percent from the field.
Fouse buried a three-pointer with just over eight minutes remaining in the first half to end nearly a four minute scoring drought and bring San Diego State to within eight points, 10-18. The Utes, however, maintained their lead and took a 28-20 advantage into the half.
Utah extended its lead to 10 points, 32-22, by the 18:14 mark of the second half. The Aztecs climbed their way back to narrow the gap to five points on six different occasions, as Fouse and Jamey Cox (Waterloo, Iowa) both made three-pointers, while Ashlee Dunlap (Los Angeles, Calif.), McCartny and Cox added baskets from the field to keep SDSU in the game.
In the final four minutes of the game, however, Utah outscored the Aztecs 11-4 to clinch the 59-44 victory and hold SDSU to its lowest scoring game of the season.
The Utes were paced offensively by Carley Marshall and Kim Smith, who had 19 and 13 points, respectively.
SDSU heads out on the road for a two-game Mountain West Conference stretch, beginning Thursday at the University of New Mexico at 7 p.m. MT.