Feb. 10, 2005
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State women's basketball team completed its non-conference schedule with a 91-45 victory over visiting Utah Valley State College Thursday at Cox Arena. The Aztecs, who finished the game with a school record 17 three-pointers, improved to 7-13 overall, while the Wolverines, in their second year at the Division I level, fell to 2-19 in 2004-05.
"It's sensational to see our team compete and execute at such a high level," SDSU head coach Jim Tomey said. "It's what we've been looking for and we're obviously delighted with the result. Hopefully, it will be a good tonic for us going into Las Vegas."
The Aztecs set a school record with 17 three-pointers, including 11 in the first half alone, beating the previous high of 11 set against Navy on Nov. 25, 2001. The Aztecs' 17 threes tie as the second most in NCAA Division I this season entering the week, trailing only Southwest Missouri State's 19 which it put up against Indiana State.
The 17 are also the most in the Mountain West Conference this season and second all-time. SDSU finished 17-for-24 from beyond the arc for the game for a season-high 70.8 percentage (No. 5 nationally in 2004-05).
"(The three-pointers) just came out of the flow of what we were doing," Tomey said. "They were all wide-open looks and good extra passes. The plan was to shoot a good quality open shot and the team found a lot of those tonight."
Seven different Aztecs accounted for the 17 three-pointers, including sophomore Michelle Elliott (Pasco, Wash.) who was 5-for-7 from beyond the arc and finished with 15 points. Junior Michelle Strawberry (Corona, Calif.) actually led SDSU in scoring with 16 points, with 12 coming on threes, while sophomore Jessica Huettl (Eau Claire, Wis.) added 13 points.
Freshman Kate Eveland (Southlake, Texas) tallied a career-high six of the Aztecs' season-best 23 assists, while junior Veronica Shaw (Phoenix, Ariz.) accounted for four of the team's 15 steals.
San Diego State led the entire game, going up 16-0 before UVSC scored its first bucket on a lay-up at the 12:07 mark. The Wolverines would get as close as 14 points after a pair of free throws at 18-4, before three-pointers by Strawberry and Elliott and a lay-up by Lindsey Casey (Odessa, Texas) pushed the Aztec advantage out to 20 points.
The lead would grow to 34 points at 50-16 going into the locker room with SDSU shooting 78.6 percent from beyond the arc and 63.3 percent from the field.
The Aztecs came out of the half on a 10-0 run to go up by 44 at 60-16, before Utah Valley State cut its deficit to as few as 35 on two occasions with the last coming with 11:04 left in the game. SDSU continued the offensive onslaught in the final minutes, eventually winning 91-45.
The Aztecs' 91 points are their most this season and mark the first time that SDSU has broken the 90-point barrier in a game since beating San Jose State, 90-47, back on Feb. 1, 1997.
Utah Valley State was led by Wilson, who scored 11 points and had three steals in 22 minutes.
SDSU heads to UNLV on Saturday to resume conference action, beginning the second half of MWC play at 3 p.m. at Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas. The Aztecs lone league win this year came against the Lady Rebels, 76-60, back on Jan. 15, in San Diego.