Dec. 21, 2010
SAN DIEGO - Playing its first home game in the last 28 days, the San Diego State women's basketball team got 26 points from senior Paris Johnson, including 17 in the first half alone, to lead the Aztecs to a 66-57 victory Tuesday night over Washington State. With the win, SDSU came out ahead for the first time at Viejas Arena this season and evened its overall record at 5-5, while the Cougars dropped to 2-10 on the year.
Johnson (San Diego, Calif.) was 8-for-11 from the field in the first 20 minutes and ended up 11-for-21 for 26 points, her seventh outing with 18 or more points in 10 total contests this season. Johnson also tallied 15 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the year and second in the last three games.
Classmate Jessika Bradley (Sacramento, Calif.) was the only other Aztec in double-figure points with 11 and pulled down seven rebounds in 24 minutes. Senior guard Coco Davis (Sacramento, Calif.) recorded a season-best eight boards and contributed nine of the team's 18 assists on the night, while sophomore Courtney Clements (Long Beach, Calif.) notched nine points on 4-for-9 shooting.
The two sides combined for five lead changes in the first four minutes of action, until San Diego State turned a one-point advantage into a nine-point lead via an 8-0 run, featuring three consecutive buckets in the paint at 19-10. WSU would climb back to within five on three occasions, but the Aztecs outscored the visitors 8-4 in the final five minutes to go into the locker room up 11 points at 36-25.
After a Cougar bucket to open the second half made it just a nine-point game, SDSU went on a 12-0 run, highlighted by its only 3-pointers on the evening by center Malia Nahinu (Hayward, Calif.) and Clements, to jump ahead by 21 points at 48-27.
After a timeout, WSU took a huge bite into the deficit, cutting it down to only nine points with just under eight minutes remaining, as San Diego State missed several chances around the rim to put the game out of reach. The lead was nine on two more occasions before the end of the game, including at the 2:52 mark at 61-52, but the Aztecs pushed the advantage back out to 13 points with a jumper by Gabrielle Clark (Long Beach, Calif.) and three free throws. The Cougars finished out the night with two lay-ups in the final 31 seconds to round out scoring in the 66-57 SDSU victory.
The Aztecs owned a plus-18 margin on the glass, including a 21-12 advantage in offensive rebounds, and shot over 40 percent from the field for the fourth outing in a row to negate their 24 turnovers.
Washington State, which shot 4-for-19 for beyond the arc, was led by Carly Noyes' and Jazmine Perkins' 11 points apiece in the losing effort.
San Diego State takes a brief break for the holiday before rounding out its non-conference campaign by playing host to the four-team San Diego Surf `N Slam, Dec. 28 and 30, at Viejas Arena. The Aztecs will be joined by Drexel, Texas-San Antonio and the current No. 7 team in the nation in Texas A&M.