Aug. 31, 2004
SAN DIEGO - Sixteen home games and the season-opener with cross-town rival San Diego, highlight the 2004-05 San Diego State women's basketball schedule announced Tuesday by third-year Aztec head coach Jim Tomey.
"This is a good schedule for our team," Tomey said. "We play nine of our 13 non-conference games in our arena and really need to start protecting our home turf. Overall, this schedule will test our team and allow us an opportunity to compete and have success."
The 16 home contests are the program's most since the 1985-86 season, when the Aztecs had 18 home games, bolstered by a pair of non-conference tournaments. SDSU went 3-2 against non-conference teams which also appeared on last year's schedule, while four schools - Cal State Stanislaus, Canisius, Eastern Washington and Utah Valley State - are first-time opponents.
The Aztecs begin the year with a single home exhibition game against Team Concept on Nov. 10. Almost two weeks later, SDSU plays its season-opener across town on Nov. 23, versus rival University of San Diego. The Nov. 23 opener is the program's latest since the 1995-96 season and is the first time the Aztecs will open their year on an opponent's court since the 2000-01 campaign, when they traveled to Montana.
SDSU then heads back across town for its first home contest of 2004-05, playing host to NCAA Div. II squad Cal State Stanislaus on Nov. 30, followed by a game at the team's second home court, Peterson Gym, versus Northern Colorado on Dec. 4.
The Aztecs take on three straight opponents which they claimed victories over a year ago, beginning with a game at Nevada on Dec. 7, and two home dates with Pac-10 Conference member Washington State (Dec. 11) and Big West Conference school Cal State Fullerton (Dec. 18).
A Monday night meeting with UC Riverside (Dec. 20) finishes the three-game homestand, before the team takes to the road for the final time in non-conference action at Southern Methodist (Dec. 22) and at Kansas (Dec. 28).
SDSU ends 2004 and begins 2005 with four straight home contests. The Aztecs play Southern Utah (Dec. 30), Canisius (Jan. 4), Eastern Washington (Jan. 7) and kick off Mountain West Conference play against UNLV (Jan. 15) for the fifth straight season.
A trip to Colorado State (Jan. 20) and Wyoming (Jan. 22) precedes another two-game set at Cox Arena versus Air Force (Jan. 27) and reigning conference champion New Mexico (Jan. 29). SDSU rounds out the first round of MWC action at BYU (Feb. 3) and Utah (Feb. 5), before taking on non-conference opponent Utah Valley State on Feb. 10.
The Aztecs conclude their regular season with four of their final seven games at home, before heading to the MWC tournament in Denver, Colo., for the second straight year, March 9-12.
"Our conference hasn't changed," Tomey said. "The perennial powers - New Mexico, Utah, UNLV and BYU - are tough every year. Going on the road in this league is a challenge and we just want to continue to climb up the Mountain West ladder."