By Max Bechtoldt (@CavsMax13) – Executive Editor
San Jose State women’s basketball falls to Air Force 58-46 in Colorado Springs, due in large part to the explosive performance out of the Falcons’ senior forward Riley Snyder.
Snyder was explosive all afternoon for Air Force, and SJSU had no answer for her. Snyder scored a game-high 19 points, adding in five rebounds and two steals. Falcons’ freshman guard Lauren McDonald, who only averages 2.1 rebounds per game, cleaned up on the boards with a team-high eight. This despite being one of the smallest players on the court at only 5’9.
The Spartans were keeping the game close until a back-breaking 14-0 run that spanned the end of the first quarter and the early stages of the second. Outside of that explosion there was never a scoring run of more than five points for either team.
The Spartans saw much of their production come from junior guard Ella Ogier, who continued her hot streak with 15 points on 67% shooting and six rebounds. This was Ogier’s fourth consecutive game in double figures, one of the lone bright spots for the Spartans to start MW play.
Senior forward Cydni Lewis on the other hand continued to struggle shooting. Lewis had just six points on 33% from the field, her fourth consecutive game in single digits. To Lewis’ credit though, she was tenacious on the boards, grabbing eight down. Despite her struggles from the field, Lewis will continue to impact games as one of the best rebounders in the conference.
In the third quarter the Spartans got some momentum after only scoring six total points in the second period. This was when Ogier put her stamp on the game, scoring 11 points by herself on 4-4 shooting, equal to the 11 the Falcons as a team scored in the quarter. Senior forward Deja Ross and Lewis also added two points a piece to close the Falcons’ commanding lead to 11.
The Falcons closed out the fourth quarter with a balanced scoring output, with five different players contributing points in the final period.
A bright spot for the Spartans to build on was their dominance in the paint, putting up 32 points down low in comparison to only 22 for the Falcons. Air Force, fittingly, won this game by letting it fly. While SJSU only made two 3-pointers in the game, the Falcons made six.
The Spartans’ next chance to end their 11-game losing streak comes on the road against New Mexico on Monday.
