Dec. 16, 2005
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State women's basketball team got its first win of the season and its first victory of head coach Beth Burns' second tenure Friday night by defeating visiting Portland State, 75-71, at Cox Arena. The Aztecs, playing their first home game in 24 days, improved to 1-5 on the year, while the Vikings dropped to 5-4 overall in 2005-06.
"We had a good scout, we were really prepared and we had good practices, which you can't always be assured of in the midst of finals week," Burns said. "I was really proud of our preparation and all I kept trying to reinforce to our team is that we just have to play keep away and find the person near the rim. I thought more often than not, we were able to do that (tonight)."
SDSU got 22 points and a career-high 11 rebounds from senior forward Michelle Strawberry (Corona, Calif.). Strawberry made seven of her 10 shots from the field and was almost perfect at the line (7-for-8), while surpassing the 20-point barrier for the second time this season.
Two other Aztecs reached double-figures in scoring with senior guard Veronica Shaw (Pheonix, Ariz.) chipping in 16 points and four assists, and junior center Desiree Johnson (Kahuku, Hawaii) adding 10 points, seven rebounds and four blocks. Freshman point guard Tamika Lipford (Oceanside, Calif.) also had a career night with 11 assists in only 28 minutes of action. Lipford's 11 assists mark the first time an Aztec has reached double digits in that category since Jamey Cox had 10 versus Cal State Fullerton in December 2000.
The story of the game was the Aztecs' shooting from the field, as the team made 26-of-49 field goals for a season-best 53.1 percentage. SDSU was also 21-for-30 from the line (70 percent), despite making only 4-of-8 in the final minute of action.
San Diego State opened the game by going on an 18-8 run and later led by as many as 15 points at 29-14 with 6:25 remaining in the first half. Portland State rallied all the way back, taking a one and then two-point lead, as the Aztecs were stuck at 29 points for almost six minutes, but managed to head into the locker room tied at 31.
Shaw broke the tie with the first bucket of the half, giving the Aztecs the lead which they would never end up relinquishing. The Vikings got to within one point on seven occasions and trailed by just a pair following a Delaney Conway lay-up at 70-68 with 1:44 showing on the clock. Portland State, however, committed four turnovers and SDSU made just enough of its free throws (5-for-10) to preserve the 75-71 victory.
The Vikings were led by Kelsey Kahle's 15 points, 14 rebounds and five assists.
The Aztecs continue their homestand, playing host to Boise State on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. The game with the Broncos is the first of a double-header with the SDSU men's team, which will face the University of Maryland Baltimore County at 8 p.m.