Dec. 10, 2005
MALIBU, Calif. -
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Pepperdine used a 15-0 run midway through the second half to break open an otherwise close game, handing San Diego State its fifth loss of the season, 70-56, Saturday evening at Firestone Fieldhouse. With the loss the Aztecs dropped to 0-5 on the year, while the host Waves improved to 2-6 following the two schools' first meeting since 1996.
Aztec senior Veronica Shaw (Phoenix, Ariz.) scored 10 of her season-high 17 points in the first half, while classmate Michelle Strawberry (Corona, Calif.) had eight of her 10 points in the second half. Junior Desiree Johnson (Kahuku, Hawaii) scored eight points and tallied a career-high 12 rebounds, the most by an Aztec since the 2003-04 season.
The first nine minutes of the game saw a pair of lead changes and a pair of ties, as the Aztecs erased an early 0-3 deficit with a 4-0 run. The Waves jumped back ahead following five straight points by Jasmane Clarendon and were up by as many as eight points at 23-15, before an 8-0 SDSU run, capped by a pair of steals and buckets by Shaw.
Pepperdine broke the 23-23 tie with the first three-pointer by either squad and went into the locker room up by that many at 28-25, SDSU's smallest halftime deficit of the season.
The Aztecs outscored the Waves 5-2 in the first minutes of the second half for the fourth tie of the game at 30-30, and later took their second lead of the night at the 14:44 mark, when Strawberry rebounded Jana Heinrich's (Fischbach, Germany) miss at the left block to go up by one at 37-36.
The SDSU advantage would be its last as Pepperdine immediately went on a 15-0 run, before freshman Tamika Lipford (Oceanside, Calif.) could end the dryspell at 51-39. The Aztecs rallied with under three minutes remaining with a 5-0 streak to cut the deficit to 10 points at 60-50, but the Waves made nine of their 11 free throw attempts with two minutes left to secure the 70-56 victory.
Pepperdine was led by Daphanie Kennedy's and Teiosha George's 17 points, while Clarendon pitched in 16.
San Diego State heads home for the remainder of the 2005 calendar year, beginning with a Friday night match-up with Portland State at 7 p.m. at Cox Arena.