Feb. 19, 2005
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State women's basketball team trailed by as many as 18 points in the second half, but managed to cut the deficit down to as few as six with under a minute remaining before falling to visiting Colorado State, 56-49, Saturday at Cox Arena. The Aztecs, who had won each of the last two meetings between the two sides in San Diego, fell to 7-16 overall and 1-9 in Mountain West Conference action. The Rams, meanwhile, improved to 14-9 overall and 5-5 in league play.
SDSU sophomore Michelle Elliott (Pasco, Wash.) scored a game-high 17 points and matched a career high with five three-pointers. Senior Lindsey Casey (Odessa, Texas) reached double-figures for the second outing in a row, tallying 12 points and a team-best seven rebounds. Freshman Kate Eveland (Southlake, Texas) had half of the team's 10 steals to match her career high in that category.
Shooting once again proved to be the Aztecs' nemesis as they shot just 18.8 percent in the first half and 28.8 percent for the game. SDSU, however, forced 23 Colorado State turnovers to stay in the thick of things down the stretch, marking the 14th time in 2004-05 that an Aztec opponent has had 20 or more turnovers in one outing.
The Rams began the night with a 7-0 lead before the Aztecs could respond at the 15:21 mark on a three-pointer by Elliott. The triple sparked a 10-0 SDSU run which gave it what would turn out to be its lone leads of the night at 10-7 and 10-9.
The Rams retook control with an 11-0 run and went into the locker room up by 14 points at 29-15.
Neither team scored a point until the 16:41 mark of the second half when Ram Vanessa Espinoza converted the first of two free throws at 30-15. CSU would grow to as many as 18 points at 55-37 with just 4:13 left in the game.
SDSU did not give up, however, as yet another Elliott three-pointer sparked a 12-0 Aztec run to get to within six at 55-49 with 47 seconds remaining. The Aztecs could have gotten even closer, but Eveland missed the second of her two free throws and Elliott's three-pointer after a timeout bounced off the rim.
CSU's Sara Hunter made the first of her two free throws to close out scoring with 40 seconds left at 56-49.
Colorado State's Melissa Dennett finished the night with a double-double, recording 13 points and 11 rebounds in 30 minutes of action.
SDSU plays its final two road conference contests next week beginning with a Thursday night game at New Mexico at 7 p.m. (MST).