By Ricardo Garcia (@SJSURicardoG) – Reporter
San Jose Women’s basketball (4-23-0, 1-15 MW) came up short against Air Force (16-11-0, 10-6 MW) 68-59.
The Falcons caught fire towards the end of the third quarter and kept the momentum going into the fourth, where they maintained a 10-point lead to secure the victory.
SJSU got off to a solid start on the defensive side, proving to be a headache early on for Air Force who struggled to get going on offense early.
Despite the defensive aggression, the Falcons kept the game close by taking advantage of multiple turnovers scoring 24 points off Spartans giveaways.
Freshman guard Lauren Mcdonald led the way in scoring for Air Force finishing with 18 points, three rebounds and four 3-pointers.
Head coach Jamie Craighead touched on how these turnovers play a role in closing out games.
“I think it was the turnovers that plagued us,” said Craighead. “When another team gets to shoot that many more times than you do it’s gonna be really tough to win a basketball game.”
Despite the loss, senior forward Cydni Lewis achieved 1000 career points as a Spartan finishing with 17 points, 13 rebounds and her fourth double-double of the season.
Offensively SJSU kept the contest close, preventing the Falcons from going on long runs, however, three quarters were all the Spartans had in the tank, which was not enough to hold off a highly physical Air force offense.
The Spartans have now lost seven straight conference matchups with only two regular season games left. For Air Force, this win puts its win streak at three heading into the final two games of the season.
Senior guard A’tyanna Gaulden explained what the team wants to take away from the loss as they head into the end of the regular season.
“We just need to execute defensively,” said Gaulden. “We know we’re a good offensive team, we just need to play defense for all four quarters.”
SJSU will have one more attempt to snap its losing streak at home as it is set to face off against New Mexico Friday night. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. at the Provident Credit Union Arena.
