Dec. 28, 2010
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State women's basketball team recorded a season-best nine 3-pointers and had four players score in double-figures to lead the Aztecs to a 72-52 win Tuesday over visiting Texas-San Antonio in the first game of the San Diego Surf `N Slam at Viejas Arena. With the victory, SDSU moved to 6-5 and advanced to a tournament championship game for the third time in as many tries this season, while the Roadrunners dropped to 4-8 overall.
San Diego State got a 3-pointer from six different players, including senior Paris Johnson (San Diego, Calif.), whose first career triple gave her a team-best 14 points on the night to go with three blocked shots. Senior guard Coco Davis (Sacramento, Calif.) contributed 13 points and seven assists, freshman Melissa Sweat (Bakersfield, Calif.) reached double-figures for the first time in her career with 11 points and sophomore Courtney Clements (Long Beach, Calif.) added 11 points and three steals.
Aztec senior Jessika Bradley (Sacramento, Calif.) logged a career-best seven assists, hauled in a game-high 11 boards and rejected three shots in 34 minutes of action.
SDSU never trailed in the game, bouncing out to a quick 8-0 lead on a jumper by Bradley and consecutive triples from Clements and junior Sajoyia Griffin (San Antonio, Texas). The Roadrunners trimmed their early deficit down to only a pair at 17-15 following two free throws and trailed by three points at the 6:40 mark. From there, the Aztecs got eight straight points from Sweat in a span of less than a minute to push the home team's lead into double-figures for the first time at 29-18.
San Diego State had its largest lead of the first half heading into the locker room up by 13 points at 40-27, and moved out to an 18-point advantage on another triple at 47-29 with 14:50 left to go in the game. UTSA cut it to 13 points once, but was never able to get any closer as the Aztecs posted its biggest margin of victory this season, 72-52.
As a team, SDSU logged a 47.5 field-goal percentage, including a 45.0 mark from three, and added 19 assists, while limiting UTSA to just a 34.5 shooting percentage.
The Aztecs, who have won two straight Surf `N Slam titles, will face No. 7/5 Texas A&M in Thursday's championship game at 7 p.m. Drexel, which lost to the Aggies 74-45, will take on UTSA two hours earlier in the consolation contest at 5 p.m.
San Diego Surf `N Slam
Viejas Arena - San Diego, Calif.
Dec. 28 -
Game 1 - San Diego State 72, UTSA 52
Game 2 - No. 7/5 Texas A&M 74, Drexel 45
Dec. 30 -
Consolation Game - Drexel vs. UTSA - 5 p.m. PT
Championships Game - No. 7/5 Texas A&M at San Diego State - 7 p.m. PT