Dec. 21, 2008
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State women's basketball team outscored Loyola Marymount by 20 points in the second half to rally to its second consecutive 85-70 victory Sunday afternoon at Cox Arena. The Aztecs, who trailed at the break by five points, improved to 7-3 on the season and a perfect 4-0 at home, while the Lions lost their second straight, dropping to 8-3 in 2008-09.
"This (win) was huge for us," SDSU head coach Beth Burns said. "[Heading into the season] we wanted to be 8-2 at this point (of our schedule), but obviously we couldn't do that. Now we've put ourselves in the best position to potentially get to 8-3 and have a chance to play a huge game in the championship of the Surf `N Slam.
"I was thrilled with (the play of freshmen) Kalena Tutt and Lindsay Leo. They really gave us a lift when J-Lay (Jennifer Layton-Bailes) and Paris (Johnson) were struggling. If anything, their growth this month has been big for us as we get the Mountain West (schedule) in our sights."
Junior Jené Morris (San Francisco, Calif.) had a spectacular all-around game, leading the charge in the second half by scoring 19 of her game-high 26 points. The guard added a career-high eight steals, seven rebounds and two blocks to go with a season-best eight assists compared to just two turnovers.
She was helped offensively by sophomore Paris Johnson's (San Diego, Calif.) 16 points, eight rebounds and three blocks and junior Quenese Davis' (Sacramento, Calif.) 16 points, nine assists and four steals in 37 minutes of action. Sophomore guard Jerica Williams (San Diego, Calif.) was the fourth Aztec in double-figures with 12 points, five rebounds and four assists.
The Aztecs got off to a shake start, as the visiting Lions made five or their first six shots of the game to surge to a 10-2 lead. LMU was also up by eight at 12-4, before SDSU logged a 7-0 run capped by a Morris three pointer to get to within just one point at 12-11. The Aztec eventually tied the score at 16 points apiece and took their first lead of the afternoon on a free throw by LaSandra Dixon (Azusa, Calif.) at 17-16 with 12:13 left.
The two sides traded leads three more times with LMU heading into the half up by five points at 42-37, following a phenomenal heave from beyond half court at the buzzer by Cassady Moore.
Johnson scored the first bucket coming out of the locker room to put the Aztecs down by just three points at 42-39. After two Lion free throws, Morris began to take over the game, scoring eight straight points in a stretch of just 1:13 to put the hosts ahead by three at 47-44.
Davis took over where Morris left off in the scoring column, notching the next five points of the game to help SDSU to a 15-0 run in a two-minute span for the 10-point advantage at 54-44.
San Diego State would widen the gap to 13 points at 64-51, but did not allow LMU to get closer than eight points, as the Aztecs turned in the hard-fought 85-70 victory.
San Diego State shot a season-high 50 percent from the field, including over 62 percent in the second half. The Aztecs also had a season-best 18 steals and forced 30 LMU turnovers to offset a minus-17 margin on the glass. SDSU's 10 blocks were its second-most in 2008-09, as the team improved to 7-0 when having more than six rejections in a game.
LMU was led by Alex Cowling's 20 points and Moore's 19 points, five assists and four steals.
The Aztecs will take the next four days off from practice before returning to campus the afternoon of the Dec 26. San Diego State will play host to the San Diego Surf `N Slam, Dec. 28 and 30, at Cox Arena. The Aztecs will take on Sacramento State on Sunday at 2 p.m., followed by the UTEP vs. Texas match up at 4 p.m. The consolation and championship games are Dec. 30 at 5 and 7 p.m. PT. Live audio, video and stats will be available on SDSU's official website, www.goaztecs.com.