The winningest coach in SDSU women's basketball history, Beth Burns recently completed the fourth season of her second stint on Montezuma Mesa in 2008-09.
This past year was a memorable one for Aztec basketball, as the culmination of many years of hard work by Burns and her coaching staff came to fruition with the program's return to the national spotlight and a trip to the NCAA tournament.
San Diego State posted its first 20-win campaign in 12 years, finishing 24-8 overall and 13-3 in conference action. The Aztecs won a share of their first-ever Mountain West regular season title, advanced to the MWC tournament championship game for the second consecutive year and garnered SDSU's first NCAA bid since 1997.
The list of accomplishments for Burns' 2008-09 squad continued with a perfect regular season home record of 14-0, highlighted by the Aztecs' stunning victory over fourth-ranked and previously unbeaten Texas to claim the San Diego Surf `N Slam title in late December. The win over the Longhorns was San Diego State's first against a ranked team since 1994.
Big wins over established programs followed during conference play, including a sweep of New Mexico, the Aztecs' first victory at BYU in 14 years and ending Utah's 25-game MWC win streak.
SDSU served as perfect hosts to the NCAA first and second rounds at Cox Arena, knocking off DePaul, 76-70, for its first postseason victory in 15 seasons, before falling to eventual Final Four participant Stanford.
Individually, Burns helped guard Jené Morris, the MWC Defensive Player of the Year, become Aztec basketball's first honorable mention All-American since 1994. Morris, along with sophomore center Paris Johnson, also are the first SDSU players to be chosen first-team all-MWC in the league's 10-year history. The duo and guard Quenese Davis accounted for three of the five spots on the conference's all-defensive squad.
For her efforts, Burns was named Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year, marking the fourth such honor of her career at San Diego State.
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