By Hector Roldan (@HectorRSJSU) – Spear Reporter
Redshirt senior Semaj Smith ready to grab the rebound | Photo by Titus Wilkinson – The Spear
SJSU women’s basketball (0-1) lost 55-47 at home to begin the 2023-24 campaign as it lost to the Santa Clara Broncos (1-0). The Broncos rallied in the second half and ultimately got the win.
5-foot-10-inch sophomore Tess Heal led the Broncos in scoring with 20 points and led the second-half charge after only having six total points in the first half. Santa Clara shot only 33.96 from the field and the Spartans did a good job to hold the Broncos in check.
However, the Broncos took advantage when getting to the charity stripe as they only missed two free throws the entire game and this helped make a drastic difference.
SJSU shot well from the field as it shot 42.55%, but a lack of three-point shooting is something that hurt the team. Although the Spartans held Santa Clara to a low field goal percentage, the lack of three-pointers hurt the team. After an early made three in the first quarter, the Spartans would go on to shoot just 1-for-7 from beyond the arc.
For SJSU, it was led by freshman guards Jyah LoVett and Maya Anderson. Lovett led the team with 13 points, a team tying six rebounds and also had four steals in the game.
Anderson was second on the team in scoring with nine points and one steal. Lovett and Anderson are players to look out for as they can help the Spartans in all aspects of the game moving forward in the season.
The Spartans’ total of 26 turnovers is a place where they can improve and take care of the ball more to give up fewer points on the opposing side of the ball. Minimizing the opponent’s chances of getting to the free throw line and not creating fouls that hurt the Spartans down the stretch of their games.
“Going 1-for-7 from the three-point line and having 26 turnovers is really tough to overcome … I’m actually really proud of what we showed tonight and we’re going to keep building on it and getting better,” head coach April Phillips said.