Dec. 29, 2008
SAN DIEGO - For the second consecutive week, an Aztec basketball player has been named Mountain West Conference Player of the Week, as sophomore center Paris Johnson (San Diego, Calif.) was honored for her performance in the team's win over Sacramento State on Sunday. This is Johnson's second career weekly honor and she follows in the footsteps of SDSU guard Jené Morris (San Francisco, Calif.), who was tabbed for the same award last Monday.
Johnson led the Aztecs to a spot in the championship game of the annual San Diego Surf `N Slam Classic, with a 75-47 victory over Sacramento State at Cox Arena. She made 11 of her 12 shots from the field, including a perfect 6-for-6 mark in the second half, for a game-high 27 points, her fourth outing with 20 or more points this season. Johnson also matched her career best with 13 rebounds for her fifth double-double of 2008-09.
She added three steals, two assists and a blocked shot in just 29 minutes of action against the Hornets. Johnson's shooting percentage of 91.7 ranks fourth in Mountain West Conference game history and is the best by a league player (min. 10 field goals made) since November 2006.
For the year, Johnson leads the Aztecs in both scoring (16.7 ppg.) and rebounding (8.5 rpg.), while ranking first in the league in blocked shots with 30.
San Diego State will put its 8-3 record on the line Tuesday evening when the Aztecs take on fourth-ranked and unbeaten Texas at 7 p.m. PT in the championship game of the San Diego Surf `N Slam. UTEP faces Sacramento State two hours earlier (5 p.m. PT) in the consolation game at Cox Arena.
San Diego State's 2008-09 MWC Players of the Week
Dec. 22 - Jené Morris
Dec. 29 - Paris Johnson