Jan. 6, 2007
LAS VEGAS - The San Diego State women's basketball team shot just 15.6 percent from the field in the second half, missing its first 10 field-goal attempts as UNLV erased a one-point halftime deficit to defeat the Aztecs 71-54 Saturday at Cox Pavilion. With the loss, SDSU fell to 7-6 overall and 0-2 in the Mountain West Conference, while UNLV improved to 7-7 and 1-1 in league action.
Aztec freshman Quenese Davis (Sacramento, Calif.) scored a team-best 14 points for the second-straight outing, adding six assists. Davis was helped offensively by juniors Shanna Demus (Palmdale, Calif.) and Kate Eveland (Southlake, Texas), who both had eight points. Senior Desiree Johnson (Kahuku, Hawaii) had a team-high six rebounds, while Demus and Las Vegas native Lauren Hoisington added five rebounds a apiece.
UNLV got an early five-point lead to start the evening, outscoring SDSU 8-3 at the 16:41 mark. The Aztecs battled back to later take a five-point advantage of their own at 23-18 as the two teams had seven lead changes and five ties in the first 20 minutes. San Diego State went into the locker room up by one point, as Davis hit a bucket at the buzzer at 35-34.
After owning a one-point edge at the break, the Aztecs opened up cold offensively in the second half, missing their first 10 shots as UNLV raced out to its largest margin of the game at 43-36 at the first media timeout. Davis broke the SDSU dryspell with the team's first field-goal at the 14:21 mark and added a pair of free throws, but the Aztecs still trailed 46-40.
After seeing their lead cut to six points, UNLV went on a 13-0 run with a pair of three-pointers going up by 19 points at 59-40. The Aztecs were unable to close the gap, getting to within 11 points, including as late as the 3:59 mark, but ended up falling, 71-54.
The Lady Rebels were led by Brittany Halberg's 18 points, while Sequoia Holmes added 15.
San Diego State has a single MWC outing next week when its plays host to Air Force Sunday at 2 p.m. at Cox Arena. The game will be televised live on the mtn.