Aikman Fang (@AikmanFang) – Spear Beat Reporter
San Jose State women’s basketball (3-18, 1-9 MW) stumbled against San Diego State (17-5, 7-2 MW) in a 59-39 loss in Viejas arena on Saturday afternoon.
The Aztecs move into second place in the Mountain West standings after a convincing win where they forced the Spartans to turn the ball over 25 times.
SJSU now leads the Mountain West with 19 turnovers per game.
The Spartans struggled to get anything going in the first quarter, shooting 1-9 from the field and committed nine turnovers in the period.
San Diego State led 19-4 after the first period after creating eight points off those nine turnovers.
The Spartans bounced back by shooting an efficient 6-11 in the second quarter and cut San Diego State’s lead to 35-24 by closing the first half with an 8-2 run.
Sophomore forward Marisa Davis-Jones had a team-high eight points and six rebounds at the intermission.
The Spartans went ice-cold in the third quarter, as they missed their first six shots and finished the period shooting 2-15 from the field.
The Aztecs’ largest lead of the day was 59-33 after senior forward Yummy Morris sunk in a pair of free throws with 4:01 left to play.
The Spartans then finished the game on a 6-0 run and fell 59-39.
Ultimately, SJSU shot a poor 27.1% from the field and 13.3% from beyond the arc. The Spartans did shoot an efficient 73.3% from the free-throw line.
The Spartans are now last in scoring in the mountain west with 55.4 points per game and the worst 3-point shooting team at 28.6%.
Two SJSU women’s basketball players did finish the game with double-digits in scoring.
Davis-Jones recorded a team-high 12 points and 12 rebounds, her second double-double of the season. While fifth-year senior Aarion Nichols provided 10 points and seven rebounds, her fifth game this season with double-digits in scoring.
“That quarter 1 and quarter 3, we just didn’t play good basketball, and that’s on me. I didn’t have the team prepared… We just got to get back to the gym and get to working,” said head coach April Phillips.
SJSU women’s basketball looks to bounce back from its fourth loss by 20 points or more this season when it heads to Laramie, Wyo to face Wyoming on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
