Nov. 26, 2010
RENO, Nev. - Behind Paris Johnson's 27 points and 12 rebounds, the San Diego State women's basketball team claimed its first victory of the season, defeating Minnesota, 61-59, Friday afternoon in its first contest of the Nugget Classic at the Lawlor Events Center in Reno, Nev. The Aztecs moved to 1-3 on the year following 1,000th game in SDSU program history, while the Gophers dropped to 3-3 on the season in the first meeting between the sides in 25 years.
Johnson dominated the paint for the Aztecs, scoring 15 of her game-high 27 points in the first half, while also adding 12 rebounds for her second double-double of the campaign. The 6-4 center ended the night 11-of-17 (64.7 percent) shooting for her biggest offensive output since 2008, and the 11th, 20-point scoring game of her career.
Johnson's front court classmate, Jessika Bradley (Sacramento, Calif.), was the only other Aztec in double-figure points with 12 to go with her seven rebounds and season-best four blocked shots. Johnson had three of SDSU's other eight rejections on the night, while sophomore Courtney Clements (Long Beach, Calif.) added nine points and Coco Davis (Sacramento, Calif.) contributed eight assists.
San Diego State held a two-point lead at 61-59 with only 20 seconds remaining, as the Gophers ended up getting a pair of chances to tie or win the game. Minnesota guard Leah Cotton missed a jumper on her team's first opportunity, but the rebound resulted in an alternate possession which gave the ball back to the Gophers with 12 seconds left.
Coming out of a timeout, Minnesota's Micaella Riche got the ball in the low block, but then tried to muscle her way to the basket, knocking over a defender and was called for an offensive foul and a turnover. The Aztecs then just had to inbound the ball, which they did, to secure the victory.
The game was tied five times in the first half, before an 18-4 run gave San Diego State its largest lead of the night at 39-25. Minnesota, however, would close that gap all the way down to only five points at the break at 39-34 on a lay-up at the buzzer.
The Aztecs started the second half quickly, moving their advantage back up to 11 points twice and later 10 points at 57-47 with 8:39 to go in the game. The Gophers staged yet another rally as SDSU struggled to find the basket, scoring only two points over a more than six-minute span to allow Minnesota to get to within two points twice, including in the final minute.
San Diego State held a Gopher squad which entered the game leading the Big Ten Conference in team shooting percentage (51.3), to a 36.4 mark from both the field and from beyond the arc. The Aztecs shot a season-best 46.6 percent, had a +3 margin on the boards and committed only 15 turnovers.
Minnesota was led by Kiara Buford's 19 points, while Cotton added 12 in the losing effort.
San Diego State will now face tournament host Nevada, which pulled out a last-minute win over North Carolina State, in the championship game of the Nugget Classic on Saturday at 7 p.m. PT.