Aikman Fang (@AikmanFang) – Spear Beat Reporter
Photo via Titus Wilkinson – The Spear
SJSU women’s basketball (6-25, 3-15 MW) season concluded as it fell 72-57 to No. 2 seed Wyoming (21-9, 13-5) in the Mountain West Tournament quarterfinals in Vegas on Monday night.
This loss came on the heels of the Spartans making history as the first No. 10 seed to win a game in the Mountain West Tournament when it upset No. 7 seed Air Force on Sunday night.
The Spartans struggled against the Cowgirls’ defense in the first half, shooting 20% from the field and 14.3% from deep.
Despite this, three SJSU women’s basketball players finished with double digits in scoring.
Senior guard Jada Holland led the Spartans with 17 points, four assists, and four steals. Holland ends the season with 29 consecutive games with at least one steal.
Graduate guard Aarion Nichols recorded her second double-double of the tournament, with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
Freshmen guard Sabrina Ma also provided 11 points, all 11 of which came in the second half.
Wyoming started with a 7-0 lead after graduate guard Quinn Weiderman made a jump shot by the baseline with 6:17 left in the first period.
Nichols helped the Spartans stop the bleeding momentarily as she made a layup at the end of the first quarter to cut the deficit to 13-6.
The Cowgirls took control of the momentum by ending the second quarter with a 12-1 run and led 29-16.
Holland and Nichols led the Spartans with six and five points at halftime, respectively.
Wyoming sprinted out the blocks to start the third quarter, making all of its first five shots, and led 45-26 after a layup from freshman guard Malene Pedersen with 4:03 left in the period. The Mountain West Freshman of the Year finished with a career-high 24 points on an efficient 7-11 shooting.
“It’s hard to start out flat in March and attempt to get an upset,” said head coach April Phillips. “But as an overall package. . . we have established our culture, our identity for who SJSU women’s basketball will be moving forward.”
The Spartans did outscore the Cowgirls 25-24 and shot 4-5 from beyond the arc in the fourth quarter, but it would not be enough for another upset win.