Navin Sunjay Krishnan (@NavinKthespear) – Women’s Basketball Beat Reporter
San Jose State women’s basketball (1-6, 0-0 MW) returned home after a two-game road trip and dropped a blowout loss 63-48 against a formidable Saint Mary’s team (4-3, 0-0 WCC) on Thursday night.
The hot-shooting Gaels came in to the game averaging 68.5 points per game, shooting 44.5% on field goals and stroking an astounding 32.8% from the 3-point line.
However, the Achilles’ heel for Saint Mary’s is that it coughes the ball up an average of 20.3 times per game while SJSU averages 11.5 steals per game.
This game served as a barometer as to whether the scrappy, energetic SJSU defense would be able to take advantage of the Gael’s weakness. In addition, this fast-paced game allowed the Spartans’ offense to flow better and favored their transition game.
“What I was most concerned about this game was playing our style of defense,” said head coach April Phillips. “We forced them into 20 turnovers, which is our style.”
The Spartans took an early 13-9 advantage after the first quarter.
Senior guard Jada Holland set the tone early, slashing into the teeth of the defense and leading all scorers into the second quarter with eight.
SJSU women’s basketball showed discipline in the first quarter, forcing SMC into difficult shots and limiting them to 24% from the field and 1-10 on 3-pointers. Sequentially, SMC junior guard Tayla Dalton nailed a 3-pointer resulting in a one-possession game for the Gaels.
“Our effort was good, we were locked in,” said Phillips. “Mostly we were on the floor diving for balls. Our team camaraderie was there. They hit a buzzer-beater at the half, but there was good effort.”
SMC concluded the first half with the momentum conjured with a last-second 3-pointer by junior guard Leia Hanafin, evening up the shooting splits of both teams at 38% and putting the Gaels up 23-21.
The Gaels rallied in the third quarter aided by multiple SJSU turnovers committed and held momentum at 39-32 at the quarter’s end while outrebounding the Spartans 32-21.
“In all honesty, we just have to keep working and grinding,” said sophomore guard Marisa Davis-Jones. “Just fight day-by-day. All we can do is move forward from this.”
SJSU women’s basketball went 0-12 from the 3-point line until freshman guard Sabrina Ma drilled one to cut the deficit to single digits 49-41.
“Moving forward we’re just going to stick to our principles,” said Ma. “Defensive-wise, we’re going to play our game. Our defense creates our offense. As long as we just stick to what we do best, I think we’ll be okay.”
Holland would finish with 14 points, four rebounds and three assists. She and Davis-Jones would be the only Spartans to score in double digits.
SJSU women’s basketball will play its next contest on the road at the University of Southern California on Tuesday at 7 p.m.