March 4, 2009
FT. COLLINS, Colo. - In the Aztecs' two contests this season with Colorado State, just three points have separated the two sides, with San Diego State getting a last-second win in both outings including a 68-66 victory Wednesday evening at Moby Arena in Ft. Collins, Colo. Sophomore center Paris Johnson (San Diego, Calif.) hit the game-winner off a pass from Quenese Davis (Sacramento, Calif.) with five seconds left to help SDSU improve to 21-6 on the year and 12-3 in league action. Colorado State, meanwhile, ended its regular season with a 9-20 mark and a 4-12 record in the Mountain West Conference.
"We played hard, (CSU) played hard and it was a very good ballgame," said SDSU head coach Beth Burns. "Jené Morris had a fabulous night and was a real catalyst in the first half for us when Quenese got her third foul."
Aztec junior Jené Morris (San Francisco, Calif.) had a standout outing on both sides of the ball, making 14 of her 27 shots from the field for 31 points, the third 30-point scoring outing of her career. Morris, who accounted for 18 of the team's 28-first half points, also had a game-high five steals and five assists in 38 minutes of action.
Morris was helped offensively by Johnson, who battled illness, but still managed to score 16 points, including the game-winner, and tally six rebounds and two blocked shots. Senior Jennifer Layton-Bailes (Sacramento, Calif.) had eight points and a team-best eight rebounds, while Davis finished with eight points, four steals, five assists and five boards.
The first half featured five tie scores and seven lead changes, as SDSU trailed early by three points, but then built a four- point advantage on two occasions with the last one coming at the 9:30 mark at 13-9. The Rams then went on a 12-2 run to go up by six points, their largest lead of the night, at 21-15. The Aztecs retook the lead with just over a minute before the break, but CSU's Bonnie Barbee hit a long jumper at the buzzer to put the host school up 30-28 at the end of the half.
San Diego State came out of the locker room with eight straight points on a pair of triples and a lay-up by Morris, as Colorado State called a timeout now down by six, 36-30. The Aztecs held onto that lead throughout nearly the entire second half, pushing the advantage up to as many as nine, and at the 9:39 mark, still led by eight, 57-49.
From there the Rams came charging back, as back-to-back three-pointers capped a 10-3 run and made it a one-point game at 60-59 with just over six minutes remaining. The two sides continued to be close until CSU's Carine Reimink hit two consecutive jumpers to knot the game at 66-66 with 41 seconds left.
Coming out of a timeout, Davis drove into the paint and found Johnson open just within a few feet of the basket, as she hit the game-winner. CSU had one more opportunity, but Johnson blocked Meghan Heimstra's three-point attempt and Layton-Bailes grabbed the rebound to secure the 68-66 win.
San Diego State shot 47.5 percent from the field and had 14 steals, forcing Colorado State into 20 turnovers.
CSU was led by Reimink's 13 points and seven rebounds, while Zoi Simmons had 10 points.
The Aztecs finish out the MWC regular season on Saturday with another road outing this time at UNLV at 3 p.m. PT. The game will feature a live audio call, with Chris Ello, and live stats on SDSU's official website, www.goaztecs.com.