March 14, 2009
LAS VEGAS - The San Diego State women's basketball team held a seven-point lead with nine minutes left to play, but could not hold on, as the Aztecs fell to the top-seeded Utah Utes, 63-58, Saturday afternoon at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nev. SDSU, which dropped its second consecutive MWC title game, fell to 23-7 overall and will await Monday's selection show to see if it earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. With the win, Utah claimed its third MWC championship and improved to 22-9 on the year.
Aztec junior guard Jené Morris (San Francisco, Calif.) led the team in points for the second consecutive outing, logging 22 on 10-for-22 shooting from the field. Morris had 27 points in the MWC semifinals against UNLV to earn a spot on the five-member all-tournament team for the second year in a row. Morris has scored 20 or more points in four of her five career games at the MWC tourney.
The other four SDSU starters each had eight points with center Paris Johnson (San Diego, Calif.) also tallying a team-best eight rebounds and two blocked shots, while guard Quenese Davis (Sacramento, Calif.) had eight assists. Davis has eight or more helpers in each of her last five MWC tournament outings.
The game was back and forth all day, with seven ties in the first 20 minutes of action and no team going up by more than six points. San Diego State ended the first half with the lead, however, on a Coco Davis (Sacramento, Calif.) triple to make the score 28-25.
The Aztecs continued that momentum after the break, scoring the first two baskets to take their largest lead of the afternoon at 32-27. Utah caught up at 32-32, but SDSU responded with a free throw and two triples to once again jump out to a five-point advantage.
The San Diego State lead hovered around three to five points, before a Johnson lay-up put the No. 2 seed ahead by seven, 45-38, with just under nine minutes to play. The two sides traded baskets until a 7-2 Utah run closed the game once again to a point at 51-50.
After another Coco Davis three-pointer put SDSU up by four, the Utes' Morgan Warburton made two free throws and drained a three-pointer at the 2:57 mark for the 55-54 lead. Warburton went to the line four more times over the next two and a half minutes, and, while SDSU made it close with two buckets in the final seven seconds, Utah managed to hold onto the 63-58 victory.
The Utes were led by Warburton's 24 points, including a 14-for-14 performance at the stripe, and Kalee Whipple's 21 second-half points. Warburton was named the tournament MVP after leading her squad to a pair of come-from-behind wins.
The bracket for this year's 2009 NCAA championships will be announced this coming Monday on ESPN, beginning at 4 p.m. PT. If the Aztecs earn an at-large berth, they will compete at Cox Arena, as SDSU plays host to the NCAA First & Second Rounds, March 21 and 23. A bid would be the Aztecs' first since 1997.
2009 Conoco MWC Championship All-Tournament Team
Jené Morris, SDSU
Amy Beggin, New Mexico
Shamela Hampton, UNLV
Kalee Whipple, Utah
MVP - Morgan Warburton, Utah