Jan. 28, 2005
The San Diego State women's basketball team forced 32 turnovers and had 21 steals, but could not overcome a minus 29 performance on the boards and a 29.1 shooting percentage as Air Force claimed a 48-44 victory Thursday night at Cox Arena. With the loss, the Aztecs fell to 6-10 overall and 1-3 in conference play, while the Falcons earned their first win in San Diego in eight tries, improving to 6-11 and 1-3 in league action in 2004-05.
"(Shooting and rebounding) was the story of the game," said SDSU head coach Jim Tomey. "You can't get outrebounded by that kind of margin, shoot 29 percent and expect to win the game. The reason why we were in the game was our defense, but part of defending is rebounding and securing the ball and we didn't get that done tonight."
SDSU senior Lindsey Casey (Odessa, Texas) had a team-high 13 points and seven rebounds to go with five steals. Sophomore Jessica Huettl (Eau Claire, Wis.) chipped in nine points before fouling out. Freshman Kate Eveland (Southlake, Texas) and junior Veronica Shaw (Phoenix, Ariz.) both had five of the team's season-high 21 steals.
Both squads owned first half four-point leads with SDSU going into the locker room up, 22-20. The lead changed hands two times in the first five minutes of the second half and SDSU was ahead by three at the 13:31 mark following two Shaw free-throws. The Aztecs, however, went scoreless through the next 6:30 before Michelle Strawberry (Corona, Calif.) broke the drought at 7:03 and SDSU trailing by six, 38-32.
SDSU would get within three points on two occasions with the last one coming at 42-39 and 2:48 left in the game. Five straight Air Force points extended its lead to seven with 47 seconds left. SDSU tried to claw its way back in forcing three Falcon turnovers on their next four possessions, but ended up running out of time as Air Force claimed the four-point win, 48-44.
Air Force guard Letricia Castillo had 15 points and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free-throw line to lead the Falcons.
San Diego State concludes its short homestand Saturday when its plays host to New Mexico, which fell at UNLV Thursday night, at 5 p.m. in Cox Arena.