Nov. 24, 2006
CEDAR CITY, Utah - Freshman Quenese Davis (Sacramento, Calif.) scored a career-high 18 points to lead the San Diego State women's basketball team to a 55-52 victory over Southern Utah at Centrum Arena in Cedar City, Utah, on Friday night. The Aztecs, who improved to 2-3 with the victory, outscored the Thunderbirds (0-4), 9-6, over the final 4:46 to pick up their second win of the season.
Davis was 7-for-8 from the field, including a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc and added a team-high four assists in 30 minutes of action.
Junior Kate Eveland (Southlake, Texas) and freshman Lauren Hoisington (Las Vegas, Nev.) each scored in double-figures for the second consecutive game for San Diego State with 11 points apiece. Six of Eveland's 11 points came from the free-throw line, including three in the final 20 seconds of the game to seal the win for the Aztecs.
Senior Desiree Johnson (Kahuku, Hawaii) had a team-high 11 rebounds, while junior transfer Jennifer Layton (Sacramento, Calif.) added 10 boards. It was Layton's third game with 10 or more rebounds in the team's five outings this season.
SDSU led by as many as 10 points in the first half when Hoisington hit a jumper with 11:39 left. Southern Utah, however, went on a 24-9 run over the next 10:49 to open up its largest lead of the game at 31-26. Eveland scored the final three points of the half with a free-throw and a jumper as the halftime buzzer sounded to bring the Aztecs within two at 31-29.
The Thunderbirds kept their slim lead for most of the second half until Hoisington put SDSU up by two at 48-46 with 4:42 remaining with a short-range jumper. The Aztecs kept up the pressure with a lay up by Davis and four free-throws to stretch their largest lead of the half to eight at 54-46 with 20 seconds remaining. Southern Utah, however, made it close by hitting six free-throws, but wasn't able to entirely close the gap, as SDSU improved to a perfect 4-0 all-time against the Thunderbirds with 55-52 win.
Southern Utah's Julie Stradling had 15 points in the game, which featured eight lead changes and six tie scores.
The Aztecs will return to San Diego for a non-conference game against Wichita State at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 3 at Cox Arena.