Garnes and Miles Pace SDSU Women

Close games are nothing new to Beth Burns, San Diego State women’s basketball coach. The Aztecs already have played two overtime games and a double-overtime game this winter in their first Western Athletic Conference season.

Still, Burns was bothered--just a little--by SDSU’s 83-80 victory over Brigham Young Thursday. The Aztecs built a 13-point first-half lead, watched the Cougars come back and take a brief one-point second-half lead, 67-66, with 6:10 to play before finally getting the best of the Cougars in front of 343 in the Marriott Center.

What concerned Burns was that, other than team leaders Kieishsha Garnes and Michelle Miles, the rest of the Aztecs seemed rattled during BYU’s comeback.

“My disappointment is that we have played several close games, and other than Kieshsha Garnes and Michelle Miles, we showed no semblance of poise,” Burns said.

Garnes, the Western Athletic Conference leader in both scoring and rebounding, had 19 points and six rebounds, and Miles, averaging nine assists a game, had 11. It was enough to keep the Aztecs (12-8, 5-2) in second place, behind Creighton, in the WAC race. BYU (6-18, 1-6) remains last.