Dec. 22, 2003
PULLMAN, Wash. - The San Diego State women's basketball team held on to claim a 63-56 victory Monday at Washington State in a non-conference game at Friel Court. With the win, the Aztecs improved to 4-5 overall and 3-1 on the road this season, while the Cougars fell to 4-5 in 2003-04.
"We have talked about making winning plays at winning times and that's just what we did," Aztec head coach Jim Tomey said. "We talked about winning the game the entire time up here and I'm glad that our players can go into the holiday break with a victory."
Aztec sophomore Ashlee Dunlap (Los Angeles, Calif.) tallied her fifth double-double in the last six games, finishing with 15 points and a season high 17 rebounds. Two other SDSU players finished in double-figure scoring including Washington native Michelle Elliott (Pasco, Wash.), who had 11 points before fouling out, and sophomore Michelle Strawberry (Corona, Calif.), who tallied a career-high 13 points.
The two sides traded leads to open the contest, before a jumper by Dunlap gave SDSU a 4-2 advantage. The Aztecs continued to stay in control going up by as many as 14 points at 24-10 with the help of a 10-1 run.
SDSU's 14-point lead, however, would whittle down to three points at 25-28 at the half as WSU went on a 15-4 run in the final three and a half minutes, capped by a buzzer beater three-pointer as time expired.
The Cougars continued their momentum into the second half, taking their first lead since the opening point with a 4-0 run at 29-28. The Aztecs retook the lead on their next trip down the court when Nicolette McCartny (Chicago, Ill.) converted on a three-point play at 31-28.
SDSU went up by eight points with just over 16 minutes remaining and led by six at the 12:38 mark, but each time saw its advantage dwindle to within Washington State striking distance. The Aztecs finally put some space between them and the Cougars with a 7-0 run, which included a three-pointer from Elliott to go up by nine at 54-45.
The last few minutes of the game turned into a free-throw shooting contest as both schools reached the 10-foul limit at the 2:15 mark. The Cougars made the final few seconds interesting drawing to within two points at 58-56, but Strawberry scored three straight points and junior Candace Mattson (Alpine, Utah) iced the game with two free throws to secure the 63-56 victory.
WSU, which went to the free-throw line 38 times, was led by Adrianne Ferguson's 13 points, while Kate Benz had a season-high 19 rebounds before fouling out.
San Diego State takes a three-day break for the holidays before returning to San Diego on Dec. 26, to prepare for the Lady Blazer Invitational, hosted by the University of Alabama-Birmingham, Dec. 29-30. The Aztecs will face Tennessee-Martin at 8 p.m. on Dec. 29, and then play at either 6 or 8 p.m. the following night against host UAB or Brown University. All times are central standard time.