Dec. 20, 2003
SAN DIEGO - Playing without its leading scorer, the San Diego State women's basketball team dropped its fourth straight game, falling to Oral Roberts 63-54, Saturday at Cox Arena in its final home contest of 2003. With the loss, the Aztecs fell to 3-5 overall, while the Golden Eagles improved to 5-4 in 2003-04.
SDSU was without its leading scorer in freshman Michelle Elliott (Pasco, Wash.) who missed her first game of the season for personal reasons. The Aztecs' lone senior, Nicolette McCartny (Chicago, Ill.), was also limited to just two minutes of action due to injury.
San Diego State freshman Courtney Fritz (Newberg, Ore.) led the team in scoring for the third straight game and the fourth time this season with 15 points on 4-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc. Sophomore Ashlee Dunlap (Los Angeles, Calif.) pitched in her normal effort, recording 14 points and pulling down 13 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season. Dunlap's classmate Michelle Strawberry (Corona, Calif.) added 10 points for the second straight game.
The Aztecs led just once in the contest, opening the game with a 3-1 advantage on a three-pointer by Jessica Huettl (Eau Claire, Wis.). The Golden Eagles tied the score at three points apiece 20 seconds later, before jumping back ahead 5-3 on a jumper by Elisha Turek. A Dunlap free throw closed the gap to 5-4, but Oral Roberts then went on a 12-0 run, going up by as many as 15 points three times in the first half, including as late as 31-16.
The Aztec deficit was at 12 points going into the break (39-27) and increased to as many as 18 at 45-27 as the Golden Eagles made the first three buckets of the second half. San Diego State, however, would battle back, cutting the Oral Roberts' lead all the way down to six points at 56-50 with just over a minute remaining in the game.
The Golden Eagles, who hit almost 73 percent of their free throws for the game, were almost flawless from the foul line in the final minute, making 7-of-8 to pull out the 63-54 victory.
Oral Roberts was led by freshman Turek, who chipped in a double-double of her own with a game high 22 points and 14 rebounds.
San Diego State heads out on the road for its final three games of 2003, traveling to Pac-10 Conference school Washington State for a 7 p.m. game on Dec. 22, in Pullman, Wash.