Feb. 26, 2004
SAN DIEGO - Veronica Shaw's lay-up with under four seconds remaining broke a 50-50 tie and gave the San Diego State women's basketball team a come-from-behind victory over Air Force, 52-50, Thursday night in the Aztecs' first game in Peterson Gym since the 1996-97 season. With the win, the Aztecs, who improved to 8-16 overall and 3-8 in MWC play, remained a perfect 7-0 at home against the Falcons, who dropped to 3-21 overall and 0-11 in the conference.
"It looked like we were going to overtime, but somehow Roni (Veronica) found a little crease on that baseline and finished the lay-up," SDSU head coach Jim Tomey said. "It wasn't exactly how we drew it up, but the result was what we were looking for."
Air Force grabbed its largest lead of the game, 49-42, with 4:13 remaining in the second half, but the Aztecs would not give up and went on a 10-1 run to finish the contest, culminating in the final eight points and Shaw's (Phoenix, Ariz.) lay-up. Freshman forward Erin Jackson (Sparks, Nev.) clinched the victory with a steal of Air Force's subsequent inbound pass as time expired.
Freshman guard Courtney Fritz (Newberg, Ore.) led the Aztecs in scoring with 15 points, including 13 in the first half on a perfect 3-for-3 shooting from beyond the arc. Sophomore forward Ashlee Dunlap (Los Angeles, Calif.) was SDSU's other double-figure scorer with 11, while Shaw contributed a season-high five steals.
San Diego State led throughout the majority of the first half, albeit it by no more than five points until a Shaw free throw made it 32-26 with 32 seconds left. Fritz then added a pair of free throws before an Air Force lay-up with two seconds remaining cut the SDSU lead to 34-28 heading into the half.
The Aztecs built another six-point lead, 39-33, with 12:56 remaining, but the Falcons responded with a 16-3 spurt to take the 49-42 lead with 4:13 left.
"They shot the ball well and also outhustled us for balls in the first 10 or 12 minutes of the second half, which was disappointing." Tomey said. "We found a way to outhustle them the last four or five minutes when it came time to win."
SDSU had a season best 14 steals and committed less turnovers than its opponent in a game for the 16th time in 2003-04. The Aztecs also made a season high 85 percent of their free throws (17-for-20), the team's best percentage at the charity stripe since the 2001-02 campaign.
Air Force was led by guard Letricia Castillo's 10 points, while guard Andrea Taylor added nine. Forward Shawna Neff grabbed nine rebounds for the Falcons, who earned the edge in that category, 41-32.
SDSU remains in Peterson Gym looking to add to their nine-game winning streak in the facility by playing host to New Mexico at 5 p.m. on Saturday. The match-up is the team's final game in San Diego and the last home contest for Aztec senior Nicolette McCartny (Chicago, Ill.).