March 7, 2007
Stats | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery
LAS VEGAS - The No. 7 San Diego State women's basketball team held the No. 2 seed Wyoming Cowgirls to just 14 first-half points but was unable to complete the upset, falling 56-44 Wednesday at the Mountain West Conference Championships in Las Vegas, Nev. SDSU ended its season with a 12-16 record, while Wyoming improved to 21-8 following the two sides' first-ever MWC tournament outing.
The Aztecs were outscored 42-27 in the second half, despite holding the league's top three-point shooting team scoreless from beyond the arc. Wyoming had entered the contest ranked 11th in the nation in three-pointers per game with a 7.3 per game average, but was was 0-for-5 on Wednesday.
San Diego State got a game-high 13 points from freshman Quenese Davis, who also added five assists. Junior Shannon Clay had eight points, while senior Desiree Johnson had nine rebounds and five blocked shots in her final game as an Aztec. Johnson's five blocks matched a MWC championship record and gave her 79 (7th in SDSU history) in her two years in the Scarlet and Black.
Junior guard Kate Eveland chipped in four steals and sophomore Tamika Lipford had a career high six rebounds to go with her five points.
Neither team had more than a three-point lead in the first half, and the Aztecs were up 17-14 at the break. It marked just the second time that SDSU had an advantage at halftime of an MWC championship contest, while the Cowgirls' 14 points were the fewest by and Aztec opponent in the first half of a game this season.
After a 19-19 tie with 17:27 left in the game, Wyoming went on a 7-0 run and never trailed again. The Cowgirls built the lead to 37-28 with 6:05 remaining. The Aztecs cut it to 43-40 with 3:19 left, but got no closer as Wyoming built its largest lead by game's end, 56-44.
The Cowgirls went to the line 36 times making 26 of them, while SDSU attempted just 14 shots at the stripe. The Aztecs also won the turnover battle, forcing 20 Cowgirl giveaways, seven above their 13.1 per game average which is fourth nationally.
Wyoming was led by Jodi Bolerjack's 15 points and Hanna Zavecz's 11 points and nine rebounds.
Despite the loss, SDSU ended the year with nine more wins that it did in 2005-06 and jumped two slots in the regular-season league standings from ninth to seventh.