Dec. 3, 2005
DAVIS, Calif. - The San Diego State women's basketball team came up empty handed Saturday afternoon in its attempt to secure its first victory of the 2005-06 campaign, falling to host UC Davis, 58-36, at The Pavilion. With the loss, the Aztecs dropped to 0-4 on the season, while the Aggies improved to 3-3 after the two schools' first-ever meeting.
Freshman LaSandra Dixon (Azusa, Calif.) had a career-high nine points for the Aztecs off the bench, while freshman Tamika Lipford (Oceanside, Calif.) and senior Veronica Shaw (Phoenix, Ariz.) each added six points apiece. Junior Michelle Strawberry (Corona, Calif.) reached double-figures in rebounding for the second time this season, pulling down a team-high 10.
After UC Davis logged the opening bucket of the afternoon, SDSU scored the next four points on a lay-up by Strawberry and a jumper by Jana Heinrich. The 4-2 advantage would be the Aztecs' final lead of the game, as a pair of starters, Strawberry and center Desiree Johnson, each picked up two fouls just 4:18 into the contest.
While foul trouble caused SDSU head coach Beth Burns to juggle the line-up, UC Davis took what was a four-point lead at 14-10 out to a 15-point advantage with an 11-0 run over a five-minute span at 25-10, before a Lipford lay-up broke the Aztecs' scoreless streak.
SDSU closed out the first half with a 6-1 scoring run of its own, coming to within eight points at 29-21, before going into the locker room down by nine at 30-21.
The Aztecs poor shooting continued into the second half, as they managed just 15 points in the final 20 minutes, before falling 58-36.
SDSU ended the game with a 25.8 field-goal percentage, including a 19.4 mark in the second half. UC Davis, meanwhile, shot 48.9 percent from the field and outscored the Aztecs 28-15 in the final 20 minutes.
The Aggies had three players end up with 10 or more points, including center Ellen Porshneva, who tallied 16, while Lara Gray had 11 rebounds.
San Diego State plays its final non-conference road game of the season next Saturday, when the Aztecs take on Pepperdine at 5 p.m. in Malibu, Calif. SDSU owns an 11-5 advantage in the all-time series with the Waves.