Jan. 11, 2009
SALT LAKE CITY - The San Diego State women's basketball team cut a 10-point halftime deficit down to just two points, but the Aztecs could not overcome a 48-24 disadvantage in the rebounding column as host Utah ended SDSU's six-game win streak with a 58-52 victory Sunday at the Huntsman Center. With the loss, the Aztecs dropped to 10-4 on the year and 1-1 in conference action, while the Utes improved to 9-6 and 2-0 in MWC play.
Junior guard Jené Morris (San Francisco, Calif.) scored a team-best 14 points and added four steals, but was 0-for-5 from beyond the arc. Jerica Williams (San Diego, Calif.) was the only other Aztec in double-figures with 11 points and a perfect 2-for-2 from three-point land.
Sophomore center Paris Johnson (San Diego, Calif.) was limited to just seven points on 3-for-11 shooting to go with 10 of the SDSU's 24 boards. Senior Jennifer Layton-Bailes (Sacramento, Calif.) had a career-high five blocked shots and three steals in the loss.
Utah opened the game with the first bucket, but San Diego State responded with a 9-0 run with the help of three steals. The Utes matched that 9-0 run with one of their own to go up by a pair at 11-9. The two sides would trade leads five times within the first nine minutes of action before Utah went up by four on two occasions at 19-15 and 21-17.
The Utes built on their advantage with a 12-0 run, until a Quenese Davis lay-up finally broke the scoring drought with 13 seconds remaining to send SDSU into the locker room down by 10 points at 33-23.
The Aztecs got their offensive and defensive game going coming out of the break, getting to within just two points at 39-37 following a 10-0 run, including six points by Morris. Utah once again responded as a three-point play sparked a 10-2 run for the 49-39 lead with 7:39 remaining.
San Diego State closed to within five at 53-48 on a potential three-point play by Layton-Bailes, but she missed the free throw and Utah hit five of six at the stripe in the final minute to secure the 58-52 victory.
The Aztecs forced 22 Utah turnovers, committing only 11 themselves, but shot 34.5 percent from the field to the Utes' 44.9 field-goal mark.
The Utes had four players finish in double-figures, including Halie Sawyer (12 pts., 15 reb.) and Katie King (16 pts., 13 reb.), who each had a double-double.
The Aztecs return home for one game next week, as SDSU plays host to Wyoming on Wednesday at 7 p.m. PT at Cox Arena. Chris Ello will have the live audio call of the game on SDSU's official website, www.goaztecs.com. The website will also have a live video feed and live stats.