By Casey Geier: The Spartans look to split the series against a rolling Boise State squad, with the help of returning senior forward Jasmine Smith.
San Jose State (10-17, MW 7-8) dropped to eighth in the Mountain West Conference after a loss to Utah State, ending a three-game road winning streak.
This game will put the top two scoring offenses in the Mountain West against each other.
Boise State (19-7, MW 9-6), is led by senior guard and leading scorer Brooke Pahukoa who is averaging 12.6 points per game.
The Broncos are second in the Mountain West in scoring offense, averaging 69.5 points per game while the Spartans are first with 72 points per game.
Both teams have a similar three point percentage with the Broncos at 40 percent and the Spartans at 38.3.
Dezz Ramos is fresh off a 37-point scoring output in the loss against Utah State. There have been multiple times this year when Ramos has outplayed everyone on the court in the fourth quarter, leading to several Spartan victories.
But if the Spartans are to be successful, Ramos cannot be the only player unafraid to take big shots toward the end of the game. Ramos was missing shots late against Utah State and could have used another teammate to assist the scoring load.
Look for that player to be Jasmine Smith who is averaging 11.7 and 8.5 rebounds a game and sat out the last two games because of a head injury after colliding with a Fresno State player and getting elbowed in the face the game before.
The Spartans lost by 22 against Boise State earlier this season — a game in which the Broncos made 14 threes as a team.
The outcome of this game will likely be decided by which team has the better day shooting the three ball.
Tip off is at 2 p.m. at The Event Center.
