Feb. 21, 2009
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SAN DIEGO - The Aztec women's basketball defeated New Mexico for the first time in San Diego since 2001, as SDSU won a hard-fought battle Saturday afternoon, 75-64, at Cox Arena. With the victory, the Aztecs stayed perfect at home this season (13-0) and have won 15 straight overall, matching is overall win total from a year ago to improve to 18-6 overall and 9-3 in league action. The Lobos, meanwhile, dropped to 18-7 and 7-5 in conference play after being swept in the regular-season series between the two schools for the first time since 1995.
Junior guard Quenese Davis (Sacramento, Calif.) was outstanding on both ends of the floor, scoring a career-high 25 points and notching a season-best nine rebounds. Davis also tied the SDSU career assists record with five on the afternoon to give her 448 in her three-year stay on The Mesa.
"We started the game a little bit nervous, which isn't surprising for a game at this level," Aztec head coach Beth Burns said. "Then (Quenese) got her legs under her and really took over the first half. When you have great leadership on the floor and talented players around her on the offensive end, that was the story.
"(The Lobos) are a tough guard, because they space so well, but we kept them off the glass. The difference was how we played the game, how Q ran the game and keeping them off the boards."
Junior Jené Morris (San Francisco, Calif.) scored 10 of her 17 points in the second half, while also chipping in three assists and three steals in 38 minutes of action. Sophomore center Paris Johnson (San Diego, Calif.) scored in double-figures for the 10th straight game with 11 points and six rebounds, despite being limited to only 21 minutes of action due to foul trouble.
Sophomore guard Coco Davis (Sacramento, Calif.) contributed her normal effort with nine points, five rebounds and four assists, while freshman Candace Chambers (Seattle, Wash.) made all three of her shots in the second half for six points to tie a career-best.
There were four ties and four lead changes within the first five and a half minutes of the game, with the Aztecs leading by one at 11-10 at the 14:24 mark. SDSU improved on its slim advantage with four straight points from Coco Davis, before a New Mexico three-pointer by Angela Hartill moved to the game back to one possession at 15-13.
The Lobos were within a point at 18-17, but the Aztecs got two straight steals and fastbreak lay-ups from Morris to start a 13-3 run, that put the host school up by 11 at 31-20. New Mexico shaved its deficit down to only seven heading into the locker room, 37-30, despite SDSU's 66.7 field-goal percentage in the first half.
Coming out of the break, the Aztecs' shooting went cold, as they made just one of their first nine shots and only one of four free throws within the first five and a half minutes as the Lobos closed to within four, 42-38.
The SDSU led by a single-point on two occasions following back-to-back three pointers from Lobo Amy Beggin, but Chambers hit two buckets in the paint to push the lead back up to five, 52-47, with 8:52 remaining. The Aztecs would lead by as many as 15 points at the 5:06 mark and ended up winning by 11, 75-64.
San Diego State ended the game with a 52.9 field-goal percentage and outrebounded New Mexico by six, 36-30.
The Lobos were led by Hartill's 23 points and six boards, while Beggin scored all but two of her 20 points in the second half.
The Aztecs will play three of its final four MWC games on the road, starting with a Wednesday evening outing at BYU, beginning at 7 p.m. MT at the Marriott Center. Chris Ello will have the audio call on SDSU's official website, www.goaztecs.com.