March 9, 2005
Box Score | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery
DENVER - The San Diego State women's basketball team saw its 2004-05 season come to an end Wednesday afternoon, as the No. 8 seed Aztecs fell to No. 1 seed New Mexico in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Conference Tournament, 81-52, at the Pepsi Center. SDSU finished the season at 8-20 for the second straight year, while the two-time reigning MWC champion Lobos improved to 24-4 and moves on to face the winner of the Wyoming-UNLV contest in the semifinals Friday.
The Aztecs had three players finish in double-figures, led by junior Michelle Strawberry (Corona, Calif.) who scored 16 points on 5-for-13 shooting from the floor. Freshman Ashley Cheesman (Orem, Utah) notched 10 of her 14 points in the first half. The 14 points are Cheesman's most in the last 15 outings since tallying 15 in the MWC-opening win over UNLV on Jan. 15.
Sophomore Michelle Elliott (Pasco, Wash.) was the third SDSU player in double-figures with 10 points and a team-best six rebounds. Junior Veronica Shaw (Phoenix, Ariz.) had a team-best four assists, but was held scoreless.
The Lobos opened the game by going up by as many as 11 points at 20-9. The Aztecs responded to the deficit with a 10-2 run of its own to cut the deficit to just five points at 22-77 with 9:44 remaining in the first half.
Neither team managed to score for the next 2:33 until a lay-up by New Mexico's Jana Francis. Cheesman matched the bucket, but the Lobos quickly reestablished their double-figure advantage and used their height advantage down low to head into the locker room up by 17 points at 43-26.
Coming out of the half, the Aztecs got a quick three-pointer from Strawberry and then after a jumper by UNM's Dionne Marsh, SDSU scored the next five points all by Elliott to get to within just nine at 45-36. The Lobos scored the next six points to up their lead back up to 15, but the Aztecs continued to stick around, coming back to within 11 on Kate Eveland's (Southlake, Texas) leaning jumper from the baseline at 55-44.
The 11 points would be as close as SDSU would get the rest of the afternoon, as the Lobos continued to pour in the points over the final 10 minutes, leading by as many 30 before claiming the 81-52 victory.
New Mexico, which has won each of the four MWC tournament meetings between the two schools, had five players in double-figures, including Marsh, the conference freshman of the year, who put in 15 points in 17 minutes.
The Aztecs finished the year with program season records for most three-pointers (140), most three-point attempts (479) and fewest turnovers (454). SDSU also tallied double-figures in steals 13 times, including in the finale with New Mexico (11 steals).