Dec. 5, 2007
Final Stats | Quotes | Postgame Radio Interview
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State women's basketball team won their fourth straight and remained perfect at home following a tough 58-53 victory over rival University of San Diego Wednesday evening at Cox Arena. The Aztecs won for the first time in their last six meetings with the Toreros to improve to 7-1 on the year, while the visitors fell to 4-4 on the season.
"We knew the game was going to have great intensity, you would hope it always would," SDSU head coach Beth Burns said. "I didn't know we were going to open the game with as many nerves as we did, but as I told them, if you guard people you can weather those kind of storms.
"These are two teams with mutual respect. I hope (USD) wins their league and goes to the tournament and I hope they feel the same way."
SDSU redshirt freshman Allison Duffy (Lakeside, Calif.) led the Aztecs in both scoring and rebounding with 14 points and six boards. Freshman center Paris Johnson (San Diego, Calif.) and sophomore guard Quenese Davis (Sacramento, Calif.) both reached double-figures with 10 and 11 points, respectively. Davis had a game-high seven assists, while classmate Jené Morris (San Francisco, Calif.) contributed four of the Aztecs' 13 steals in just 18 minutes of action.
USD's Sam Child began the game with the hot hand, scoring each of her team's first nine points as the Toreros led by four early at 9-5. The visitors were up by as many as five at 16-11, before the Aztecs came storming back with an 8-2 run to take their first lead of the night at 19-18. The advantage changed hands two more times, before SDSU headed into the locker room up four at 29-25.
After a bucket by Torero Kiva Herman to open the second half, SDSU scored 11 unanswered points to build its largest lead of the evening at 40-27. USD would get to within three points on two occasions, including as late as 39 seconds remaining and the score 56-53. After securing a critical defensive rebound, Davis made both of her free-throw shots with 10 seconds left, as the Aztecs claimed the 58-53 win.
San Diego State held USD without a three-point field goal, as the Toreros were 0-for-4 from beyond the arc, compared to the Aztecs' 4-for-9 performance, three of which came in the second half. USD is the second SDSU opponent this season to fail to record a three-pointer, as Southern Utah also went without a triple.
The Toreros had four players score in double-figures, led by center Amber Sprague's 15 points to go with eight boards. SDSU held USD point guard Amanda Rego, who led the nation in assists a year ago, to just four assists and two points both from the free-throw line.
SDSU takes almost a two-week break for final exams, before facing Navy on Dec. 18 at 7 p.m., followed by the much anticipated meeting with second-ranked Connecticut on Dec. 21 at 8 p.m. Both games will be played in San Diego at Cox Arena.