Jan. 5, 2006
FORT COLLINS, COLO. - Michelle Strawberry's three-pointer at the buzzer fell just short as the San Diego State women's basketball team dropped its 2006 Mountain West Conference opener, 68-65, to Colorado State Thursday night at Moby Arena. With the loss, the Aztecs fell to 3-8 on the season and 0-1 in the Mountain West Conference, while the host Rams improved to 7-5 overall and 1-0 in MWC play.
SDSU got a career-high 22 points from senior guard Veronica Shaw (Pheonix, Ariz.), who also added seven rebounds and four steals in 38 minutes of action. Strawberry (Corona, Calif.) recorded her 10th double-figure scoring effort of the season with 12 points. Freshman Jana Heinrich (Fischbach, Germany) had eight points off the bench and sophomore Kate Eveland (Southlake, Texas), starting her first game this season, had a career-high seven assists.
Thursday also marked the return of Aztec guard Courtney Fritz (Newberg, Ore.), who saw her first action since redshirting last season due to ACL surgery. Fritz played 10 minutes and was 1-for-2 from the field, recording her first basket in over a year in the second half.
The Aztecs opened the night with Johnson finding Strawberry underneath the basket for an early 2-0 lead. The schools traded turnovers before CSU went on a 9-0 run for a seven-point advantage at 9-2. SDSU climbed all the way back to take its second lead of night on Shanna Demus' three-pointer at 17-15 with 8:04 left.
The Rams regrouped and went up by eight points, before the Aztecs once again kept the game within reach before going into the locker room trailing by only three at 31-28 going into the locker room.
CSU built another nine point lead early in the second half only to see the SDSU once again climb all the way back to knot the score at 49-49 with 9:58 remaining. Coming out of the tie, the Rams outscored the Aztecs by a 11-2 margin and appeared to have the game well in hand, before SDSU stormed back to get to with two on a Shaw three-point with 54 seconds left.
A three-pointer and a free throw put CSU up by six with seven seconds left, before Strawberry nailed a three from the right wing. SDSU caused a turnover on the insuing in-bound play, but Strawberry's three from way beyond the arc fell shot, giving Colorado State the 68-65 victory.
CSU was led by Melissa Dennett's 21 points and eight rebounds, while Vanessa Espinoza had 13 points.
SDSU heads back to San Diego for its 2006 MWC home opener against Air Force, beginning at 2 p.m. (PST) at Cox Arena. The Aztecs are 14-2 all-time versus the Falcons and the two schools split the season series a year ago.