Nov. 13, 2009
IRVINE, Calif. - The San Diego State women's basketball team used a 12-0 second-half run to come out with a 64-42 victory at UC Irvine in its first game of 2009-10 on Friday night at the Bren Events Center. With the win, the Aztecs claimed their third-straight season-opener to move to 1-0, while the Anteaters dropped to 0-1 following the two schools' first meeting in six years.
"With first games, you are glad to get the win," Aztec head coach Beth Burns said. "Some people stepped up and did some nice things, but we're a work in progress, which is not atypical for this time of year. Credit to UC Irvine, they got after us pretty good and I'm not surprised, because it's what I would expect from a Molly Goodenbour coached team."
SDSU had three players finish in double-figure points, including leading scorer junior Paris Johnson (San Diego, Calif.), who notched 11 of her game-high 18 points in the first half. Senior Jené Morris (San Francisco, Calif.) finished with 13 points and junior Allison Duffy (Lakeside, Calif.) contributed 11 points off the bench.
Aztec senior co-captain Quenese Davis (Sacramento, Calif.) had six of the team's 13 assists including the 500th of her career, which came at the 16:18 mark of the first half on a three-pointer by Morris. Johnson had five blocks and eight boards, Morris contributed four steals and forward Jessika Bradley (Sacramento, Calif.) logged a team-high 10 rebounds in her official Aztec debut.
San Diego State got off to a bit of a slow start, as UC Irvine scored the first basket of the game, before the Aztecs' first field-goal at the 17:26 mark by Johnson. The team then reeled off two more baskets to lead by five points, but the Anteaters, using a small line-up, tied the score at seven apiece and were within single digits for a majority of the first half, as SDSU led by only 10 at the half, 32-22.
Coming out the break, the two sides continued to trade baskets, until a three-point play by Allison Duffy at the 17:43 mark sparked an 8-0 run for a more comfortable 18-point advantage at 42-24, heading into the first media timeout. The Aztecs extended their scoring spurt to 12 unanswered on a layup and a pair of free throws, until UC Irvine finally broke through with a three-pointer and another basket to trail by 17 at 46-29.
The San Diego State lead rose once again to 22 points with 5:37 left in the contest and never got lower than 16 points, before capturing the 22-point win at 64-42.
The Aztecs shot 47.8 percent from the field, while the Anteaters made just under 26 percent of their shots. SDSU boasted a plus-9 advantage on the boards, but had 26 turnovers on the night.
UC Irvine was led by Jade Smith-Williams' 15 points and six assists, while Lauren Spinazze had 11 points in the loss.
The Aztecs head home for two games next week, beginning Tuesday against USD at Viejas Arena at 7 p.m., followed by the four-team JHG Jam on Saturday.