Feb. 13, 2008
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - In a game pitting two teams tied for fifth place in the Mountain West Conference standings entering the night, the host New Mexico Lobos used a 42-31 advantage on the glass to defeat the visiting San Diego State women's basketball team 63-54 Wednesday evening at The Pit. With the loss, the Aztecs, who had a one-point advantage at the half, dropped to 13-9 overall and 4-6 in conference action, while the Lobos improved to 13-10 and 5-5 in the MWC.
Aztec sophomore Jené Morris (San Francisco, Calif.) scored in double-figures for the sixth straight game and the ninth time in 10 conference outings, ending up with 22 points for her fourth career 20-point scoring game. Morris scored 16 of her 22 points in the second half and also added four of the team's 11 steals on the night.
Senior Shanna Demus (Palmdale, Calif.), who started the contest 4-for-4 from the field, ended up with nine points, while redshirt freshman Allison Duffy (Lakeside, Calif.) recorded her third career game with double-figure rebounds, notching 12 boards, just one short of her season-best of 13.
SDSU got off to a quick start getting on the board with three free throws and two Demus baskets, including a three-pointer, to lead by seven at 8-1 at the 16:22 mark. New Mexico raced back to knot the score at eight apiece and the game was tied on three more occasions in the first 20 minutes of action.
The Aztecs carried a slim one-point advantage at 26-25, into the locker room, despite making 11 of 18 shots (61.1 percent) from the field to the Lobos' 36.0 shooting percentage.
The lead changed hands for the third time on the night, when New Mexico opened the second half with a 7-0 run before Morris could score SDSU's first points at the 15:58 mark trailing 32-28. Morris followed that bucket with another and the Aztecs had the game down to just a single point at 33-32.
Both sides went scoreless for over three minutes, as a jumper by UNM's Jessica Kielpinksi broke the drought in the Lobos favor, which was then followed by six straight Dionne Marsh points, as the host built its largest lead of the night at 11 points at 45-34. UNM went up by as many as 17 points at 59-42 with just over two minute remaining. The Aztecs cut the deficit to as few as 10 points with 39 seconds left, but ended up running out of time, falling, 63-54.
Marsh scored all but two of her team-best 15 points in the second half, while also chipping in 11 boards for a double-double.
San Diego State returns to Cox Arena for Saturday's "Think Pink" game against visiting No. 19 Utah at 2 p.m. PT.