Feb. 5, 2004
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State women's basketball team stuck to its defensive game plan Thursday night, holding first-place Utah to just 21 first-half points, but were unable to match that effort on the offensive end, falling to the visiting Utes, 56-29, at Cox Arena. The Utes, ninth nationally in scoring defense, held the Aztecs to 19 percent shooting from the floor to drop SDSU to 2-4 in MWC play and 7-12 overall, while Utah improved to 6-0 in the MWC and 16-4 overall.
"Our plan was to shorten the game and we did exactly what we wanted to do except we couldn't get the ball into the hoop," SDSU head coach Jim Tomey said.
Freshman Michelle Elliott (Pasco, Wash.) and sophomore Veronica Shaw (Phoenix, Ariz.) led the Aztecs in scoring with eight points each. Sophomore Ashlee Dunlap (Los Angeles, Calif.) grabbed nine rebounds and senior Nicolette McCartny (Chicago, Ill.) added five boards.
The Aztecs kept the game close the majority of the first half, trailing by only one with five minutes left, 9-8, with Dunlap and Shaw scoring four points each. The two sides were neck and neck at the 3:52 mark and the score 13-10, but the Utes finished the half by knocking down a pair of three pointers and went into the locker room up 21-12.
The Aztecs held Utah without a field goal the first 8:25 of the second half, but were unable to take advantage as both teams scored just four points during that span. A basket by Julie Wood then broke the Utah drought and ignited a 12-0 Ute run to push the Aztec deficit out to 19 points at 35-16. A pair of Dunlap free throws broke the run at 35-18, but Utah maintained its offensive rhythm, outscoring SDSU by 10 points down the stretch to come away with the 56-29 victory.
Despite the loss, the Aztecs committed a season-low 10 turnovers and shot 72 percent from the free-throw line, making 13 of 18 attempts.
Utah was led offensively by Kim Smith, who tallied 16 points and 13 rebounds, while Julie Wood scored 11 points in the win.
San Diego State finishes out the week with another conference game this Saturday at 5 p.m. against Brigham Young at Cox Arena.