Nov. 30, 2008
HONOLULU -Playing its fourth game of the week and third in the last three days, the San Diego State women's basketball team made 10 three-pointers, but could not hold off a hot shooting Iowa State team, as the Aztecs fell to the No. 25/22 Cyclones, 87-71, Sunday in the final day of the Waikiki Marriott Beach Classic at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. With the loss, the Aztecs dropped to 4-3, while the Cyclones improved to 5-1 and stayed perfect in the all-time series (3-0) between the two foes.
Aztec junior guard Jené Morris (San Francisco, Calif.) had a season-best 34 points, one off her career high of 35 that she set last year at UNLV. Morris was 5-for-10 from beyond the arc and 12-for-24 overall and also had three steals, four assists and four rebounds.
Sophomore center Paris Johnson (San Diego, Calif.) recorded her third double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds and tied a career-best with three steals. For the tournament, Johnson scored 68 points (22.7/g) and averaged 8.3 boards an outing.
Junior guard Quenese Davis (Sacramento, Calif.) was the third Aztec in double-figures with 13 points, including three triples. She had seven assists to only one turnover and ended up with 19 helpers over the three-game stay in Hawaii.
The first three field goals of the game were all three pointers, as the Aztecs hit two with one by Morris and another by Coco Davis (Sacramento, Calif.) and the Cyclones knocking down a trey by Kelsey Bolte.
SDSU took its first four-point advantage of the first half at 10-6 on a Johnson lay-up. The Aztecs were also up by four on four other occasions with the last one coming at 20-16 on a Morris bucket. Iowa State came back to tie the score at 20 apiece and took its first lead of the game on a three-pointer by Heather Ezell at 23-22. The Cyclones added two more triples in a row and were up by seven at 29-22 with 6:48 left in the half.
Iowa State added to their lead with a jumper from the foul line to go up by nine at 31-22. A Johnson free throw finally broke the streak at the 5:33 mark, but Cyclones again answered with their fourth straight three-pointer to go up by 11 points.
Quenese Davis responded with her own set of three pointers and the Aztecs trailed by seven at 36-29. The Iowa State lead was eight points heading into the locker room at 43-35 with the help of a 55.6 field-goal percentage and a 50 percent mark from beyond the arc (6-for-12).
The Cyclones continued their hot shooting in the second half, scoring the first 10 points, including two more three-pointers, until Morris ended the drought with a triple from the left baseline with 16:55 left.
SDSU got to within nine points by putting together its own scoring run of nine unanswered to cut the lead to single-digits at 53-44. The rest of the contest was a battle on both sides of the ball as the Aztecs made run after run, cutting the deficit down to just 10 points at 75-65 with 3:11 left. Iowa State, however, made all 10 of its free throws over the final 2:10 to claim the 87-71 victory.
The two sides combined for 20 three pointers in the game, with SDSU made 10 of 26 attempts and ISU converting 10 of 22. The Cyclones finished the contest shooting 53.8 percent from the field, 45.5 percent from beyond the arc and 77.8 percent from the stripe. The Aztecs had just 11 turnovers against 20 assists but lost the battle on the boards, 29-36.
Iowa State was led by Ezell's 21 points and seven assists, while Alison Lacey had 17 points and six assists.
San Diego State heads back home for the entire month of December, beginning Thursday evening when it plays host to UC Riverside at 7 p.m. at Cox Arena. Live audio, video and stats will be available on SDSU's official website, www.goaztecs.com.