By Andrew Hartley(@andrewhart1ey) – Spear Reporter
Freshman guard Jyah LoVett pushing the ball up the court against pressing CSU Monterey Bay defense. l Photo by Titus Wilkinson – The Spear
Since the start of conference play, the first quarter certainly hasn’t been kind to the SJSU women’s basketball team. A 63-51 loss against San Diego State followed a familiar script.
With just over two minutes to go in the first and a score of 16-13, the Spartans were getting back on defense. But they forgot to pick up the Aztecs ball handler Jada Lewis. Lewis walked right up to the middle of the 3-point line and without a contest, converted.
SJSU head coach April Phillips stood with crossed arms and turned her head in disbelief before calling out the next play. That 3-pointer began a 9-0 run for SDSU that included three SJSU turnovers.
In the blink of an eye, what had just been a one-possession game turned into a 12 point deficit in the first quarter.
“We wanted to get off to our best start and it didn’t happen tonight,” said Phillips.
The Problem:
Eventually the Spartans calmed things down and outscored the Aztecs in both quarters of the second half. In fact, SJSU had outscored its opponents in six of the eight second-half quarters during this four-game losing streak. Nine of the 12 quarters if you include all of their conference games this season.
But it’s the first quarter that continues to be SJSU’s Achilles’ heel. During the stretch, teams are outscoring the Spartans 93-39 in the first quarter.
“We definitely don’t want that to be our identity,” said Phillips.
That scoring difference can be attributed to the large amount of injuries the team’s incurred this year. There’s been several times this season where Phillips has had nothing but seven or eight players to last the rotation 40 minutes. Now, 13 different players have seen the court in the Spartans last four games.
“Being able to go out and play as hard as we can until we need a breather, we know anyone can come off the bench and it won’t be a drop off,” said three-time Mountain West Freshman of the Week Jyah LoVett.
The Situation:
But there’s two sides to every coin. The other side would be finding the consistency in the Spartan rotation.
When asked if having more players at your disposal gives you more clarity on the team’s identity, Phillips said, “yes and no.” The yes follows an answer similar to LoVett’s statement like being able to substitute if a player is in foul trouble.
Take their loss against Boise State as an example. Amhyia Moreland picked up two fouls within the first 3 minutes of the game. Just a month ago, they’d have to forcefully play small ball and cross their fingers against the third best rebounding team in the conference. Instead, they had not just one but two centers to substitute with Semaj Smith healthy and the mid-semester addition of Mia Grizelj.
The “no” is finding that consistency within the rotation. In the Spartans last five games, they’ve rolled out five different starting lineups including nine different players.
“Our struggle to build chemistry this late into the season, it’s what our journeys been,” said Phillips after their loss to Boise State. The Broncos outscored the Spartans 22-6 in the first quarter yet only won by a score of 68-64.
It’s difficult to build chemistry without consistency at the beginning of games. However, even if that consistency was there, it’s still a relatively new team.
Seven of those 13 players who have seen playing time didn’t register a minute for the team a year ago. LoVett, Sydni Summers and Maya Anderson are all freshmen still fighting the ups and downs of college basketball. Sophia Jones is coming off not playing for a season due to a torn left ACL. Smith is coming off a redshirt season.
Sabrina Ma and Sofia Kelemeni are still underclassmen.
The Solution:
So how does a young, new team fix this first quarter problem?
First would be the turnovers that have plagued them all year. The Spartans have averaged 5.75 turnovers each first quarter during this stretch. They’re also second to last in the conference in turnover margin (-2.67). So yes, ball security is one of those things.
But could time be the over-arching answer?
“It’s just a game of learning,” said Summers. The freshman guard went from a flamethrower role off the bench to bring slotted into the starting lineup and tying her career-high of 14 points in the team’s two most recent games.
SJSU has had a week off from its last game. That’s a week to communicate, learn from each other and ultimately build that chemistry Phillips was talking about.
“I think it was good for us to just get some treatment, rest, and rest our minds, bodies and all of those things,” said Phillips.
The Spartans are scheduled to face Colorado State (12-6, 3-4 MW), who are currently on a two-game skid of its own, on Saturday afternoon. So something has to give.
If SJSU can solve this first quarter problem, it can become a scary team come tournament time. The Mountain West tournament starts March 10 but it ultimately starts one game at a time.
“Being the underdog is probably one of the best things,” said LoVett. “We know what our team can be and will be, it’s just a matter of time.”