Garnes, San Diego State Come Up Empty Against the Bruins

The San Diego State Aztecs could have used an All-American game from their All-American, Kieishsha Garnes, Friday night against UCLA. The Aztecs, already thin in the backcourt with an injury to starter Lakeysha Wright, lost starting point guard Michelle Miles to a knee injury with 10 minutes left in the game.

At the time SDSU trailed by only six points, but five minutes later, the deficit had grown to 22. The Aztecs wound up losing, 82-59, before 937 at Peterson Gym. Garnes wound up with only 12 points, shooting six of 18 from the field.

By the end, Aztecs freshman Christian Murguia, a power forward, was playing point guard.

“We were like a MASH unit out there,” Aztec Coach Beth Burns said. Wright broke her foot last week in practice and Miles reinjured a knee that had been sprained.

Later, guards Falisha Wright and Tammy Blackburn fouled out.

“Michelle’s our leader,” Burns said. “Once she went down, I knew we were in trouble.”

Once Miles went down, UCLA’s guard tandem of Nicole Anderson, who played at La Jolla High, and De De Mosman went for the kill. They turned up the pressure on Wright and Blackburn and began to force turnovers that led to a 17-2 run. Most of the Bruins’ points came on layups and easy jumpers.

“They did a good job defensively,” Burns said. “But my seven kids hung in there.”

Meanwhile, Garnes couldn’t get anything to fall. She missed layups, follow-up shots and short jumpers.

“It just wasn’t rolling in,” Burns said. “I couldn’t name one shot that was a bad shot either.”

Garnes still finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds, but nothing came easy.

“She rarely got a good look at the basket,” UCLA Coach Billie Moore said. “She had to earn all of her points.”

The Aztecs (6-4) were tied with UCLA, 33-33, at the half, but they trailed almost the entire way. SDSU had trouble with UCLA’s pressure on the perimeter and it could not seem to find Garnes or Michelle Suman inside.

SDSU’s problems inside were not helped when Murguia picked up two fouls within the first two minutes and did not return until four minutes remained in the half.

When Garnes, who was averaging 20 points per game, got the ball, she had her problems getting shots off over UCLA’s front line of Amy Jalewalia, a 6-1 forward, and Lynn Kamrath, a 6-4 center. She had two of her first three shots rejected and didn’t score a basket until 10 minutes were left in the half.

Falisha Wright led a 8-0 Aztecs’ run at the end of the half that gave them a brief 33-31 lead. Wright scored four of the points off steals. Murguia accounted for the other four, hitting two free throws and dishing off to Garnes for an easy layup.

The game was a nice homecoming for Anderson, who scored 10 points and had five assists.

“I had the nervous jitters at first,” Anderson said. “I wanted to do too much. That’s natural for somebody playing at home for the first time.”

But Anderson and Mosman settled down in the second half. Mosman scored 13 of her 21 points in the second half.

Wright led SDSU with 17 points, but 13 of them came in the first half. Murguia finished with 11 points and five rebounds, but she also had seven turnovers.

Rehema Stephens had 17 points for UCLA (6-3) and Williams added 15 points.