Nov. 23, 2004
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State women's basketball team was unable to overcome a 19-point deficit early in the second half and fell in its 2004-05 season opener to San Diego, 64-49, at the Jenny Craig Pavilion Tuesday. With the loss, the Aztecs fell to 0-1 on the season, while the host Toreros improved to 1-1 and has now claimed each of the last three meetings between the two squads.
SDSU sophomore Michelle Elliott (Pasco, Wash.) scored 11 points for her 22nd career game in double-figures. She also added a career high eight rebounds and tied a team game-high with three assists in 35 minutes. Classmate Courtney Fritz (Newberg, Ore.) also had 11 points with a pair of three-pointers, while freshman Ashley Cheesman (Orem, Utah) came off the bench to tally 10 points and eight boards in her first career outing.
The Aztecs led just twice in the game at 2-0 and 3-2 with all three points coming from Elliott. Both teams struggled in the early going, but it was USD that found its rhythm offensively, building a double-figure lead at 19-9 with 7:26 left in the second half.
A Cheesman three-pointer at 19-12 pulled the Aztecs to within seven at the 6:29 mark. Chessman's trey would be the team's second to last field goal of the half, as Fritz made a jumper with 1:28 remaining and the Aztecs headed into halftime down 33-18.
After USD pushed its lead out to 19 points in the first minute of the second stanza, the young Aztec squad bounced all the way back to cut the deficit to just seven points, when Fritz made a three-pointer to cap a 9-0 run at 47-40 with 7:33 left to play.
That would be as close as SDSU would get as USD closed out the game on a 17-9 run to take the game 64-49.
USD's Tiara Harris had a game-high 15 points and also tallied nine rebounds in a winning effort.
SDSU heads back across town to Cox Arena for their home opener next Tuesday, Nov. 30, against NCAA Division II foe Cal State Stanislaus at 7 p.m.