Jan. 11, 2011
LAS VEGAS - The San Diego State women's basketball team withstood a 5-1 run by host UNLV over the final two minutes of the game, holding on for a 55-52 win Tuesday night at Cox Pavilion. The victory was the Aztecs' first in Mountain West Conference play this season, improving them to 1-2 in league action and 7-8 overall, while the Lady Rebels fell to 7-10 and 0-3 in MWC action.
SDSU got 16 points from sophomore Courtney Clements (Long Beach, Calif.), who scored the team's final four points, including a free-throw with 10 seconds left that made it a three-point game. Aztec seniors Paris Johnson (San Diego, Calif.) and Jessika Bradley (Sacramento, Calif.) each fell one rebound short of a double-double, putting in 11 and 10 points respectively, while each tallying nine rebounds. The pair also combined for 12 of the squad's season-best 14 blocked shots on the evening.
The team's third senior, Coco Davis (Sacramento, Calif.), had nine points, eight assists and three steals in playing all 40 minutes.
After only two baskets were scored through the first three plus minutes, the sides traded leads six times before the Aztecs went up by four points at 14-10 on a lay-up from freshman Melissa Sweat (Bakersfield, Calif.). The Lady Rebels knotted the game with two straight buckets and no side led by more than five the entire first half, as SDSU went into the break on a 7-0 run to push ahead by a pair at 27-25.
After UNLV hit a free throw, the Aztecs continued their scoring spurt for the game's biggest advantage to that point at 37-26 with three lay-ups, a free throw and a triple out of the right corner by junior Sajoyia Griffin (San Antonio, Texas).
The host Lady Rebels went without a field goal for the first five minutes of the second half until a rebound basket by Ta'Nitra Byrd made the score 37-28. San Diego State countered with a triple from Clements, but UNLV's India Chaney bettered that effort with back-to-back 3-pointers and the visitors led by only seven with just under 12 minutes remaining on the clock.
The Aztecs then hit a dry spell on the offensive side, going nearly four minutes without a point as the home team closed to within three at 41-38. SDSU finally broke through with a rebound basket from Clements and a lay-up from Bradley to get a little breathing room with a seven-point lead, but UNLV came storming back to move the score to a two-point game at 47-45.
The visitors extended their lead out to seven points and could have gone up by more by converting at the free-throw line, but instead the Lady Rebels had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead with 3-pointer on the game's final possession. UNLV's Erica Helms, however, missed the last-chance 3-pointer from the top of the arc and Clements secured the rebound for the 55-52 victory.
San Diego State shot over 45 percent from the field and nailed seven 3-pointers to overcome its 24 turnovers, 47.6 free-throw percentage and a -15 margin on the offensive glass. UNLV, meanwhile, made only nine second-half field goals and became the 12th Aztec opponent to fail to reach the 40.0 mark in field-goal percentage (29.6 percent) in 2010-11.
The Lady Rebels were led by Sandrine Nzeukou's 16 points and 10 rebounds, while season leading scorer Kelli Thompson was 1-for-11 from the field and managed only two points.
SDSU returns to home Saturday, playing host to New Mexico for a 1 p.m. PT tip-off at Viejas Arena. The game, which will be the NCAA Pack the House Challenge, will be televised live on CBS College Sports.