By Johnny Culbertson (@Johnculb3) — Reporter
Could a new culture for San Jose State women’s basketball be born from the ashes of a long losing streak?
The Spartans have recently shown a lot of drive that was missing early in the season. This new refreshing sense of motivation seems to have been born from SJSU’s buzzer beater loss to Utah State on Jan. 27.
SJSU women’s basketball defeated Boise State in another last-second nailbiter on Jan. 29 to secure its first victory since November. This marked the end of a 13-game run of losses and was the first conference win for the Spartans.
The difference in SJSU between these two nerve-racking thrillers was truly seen in the last seconds of each game.
After a free throw miss by Utah State, SJSU was left shocked as the ball was easily collected and put back by the Aggies.
However, the game isn’t over until the final buzzer. The Spartans learned from this mistake and kept fighting until the bitter end, scraping on the ground for loose balls in the final seconds two nights later against Boise State.
This new passion and drive could be the catalyst for a new attitude of play. The Spartans are currently residing on the bottom of the standings with a 1-9 record in MW play. Eight games remain in the season, and the Spartans’ focus should be honed in on planting the seed of a winning culture.
Early in the season,the Spartans seemed all too willing to take a large percentage of their shots behind the arc. Their current 3-point attempts account for over one-third of their total field goals attempted. The Spartans sit on the bottom of the conference in terms of team field-goal percentage for the season.
This was not the case in their win against Boise State. The Spartans stayed aggressive on offense, taking six less 3-pointers than their season average, while playing physical and getting to the charity stripe.
While they were unable to follow up this performance with another victory, the Spartans showed some fire in their loss to the University of Nevada, Reno on Feb. 2. They weren’t able to efficiently convert points at the free-throw line, but they continued to draw fouls and ended the game with 19 attempts.
“When you go on the road, you have to have a mentality that you’re against everybody,” said head coach Jamie Craighead Turner. “You kinda have to play pissed off, and I felt like we had too many people playing on our heels. They were very aggressive early… we just didn’t respond.”
This physicality is a major component in creating a culture that prides itself on passion and drive. The Spartans may not have been able to keep this physicality through the entire 40 minutes, but Rome wasn’t built in a day.
Another factor that requires improvement is team rebounding. The Spartans are at the bottom of the conference in rebounding margin, allowing their opponents to out rebound them by 8.7 boards per game.
Battling in the paint is certainly no mystery for senior forward Cydni Lewis. She currently resides at No. 3 for conference leaders in blocks per game and No. 8 in rebounds per game. Lewis can be the vocal presence for this SJSU defense and spearhead a positive change.
In order to cultivate a winning culture, this Spartans’ roster has to leave its full efforts on the court. Their gritty and aggressive style of play needs to be present in every showing from the tip-off to the final buzzer.