By Larry Larkin (@larrylarkinsjsu) – Spear Reporter
SJSU head coach April Phillips looks on as her team endures its seventh straight loss to Air Force on Sat. Feb. 3. l Photo by Andrew Hartley – The Spear
SJSU women’s basketball suffered its seventh straight loss on Saturday, losing to Air Force 78-56 at home.
The Spartans (6-15, 1-8 MW) struggled against the Falcons’ (11-12, 4-6 MW) full-court press defense.
Air Force started the game on a 17-0 run before SJSU scored late in the first quarter while San Jose State committed 41 turnovers in this game.
“You cannot win basketball games and turn the ball over 41 times,” SJSU head coach April Phillips said. “We’ve got to get back in the gym and us as coaches have to get our team prepared to handle ball pressure in a more composed fashion.”
SJSU freshman guard Sydni Summers and junior forward Marisa Davis-Jones combined for 16 of the Spartans’ turnovers.
Air Force capitalized on the turnovers, scoring 48 points off the Spartans’ sloppy play. San Jose State never had a lead during the game and trailed 44-20 at halftime.
Summers and Davis-Jones combined to score 25 points, with 10 from Summers and 15 from Davis-Jones.
The Spartans had no answer for Air Force sophomore guard Milahnie Perry, who scored 24 points and had seven assists.
Three-point shooting also turned out to be the difference in the game, with Air Force shooting 50% compared to San Jose State’s 27%.
With the Spartans halfway through the season in Mountain West Conference play, they’ll need to find a way to get on track with nine games left before the conference tournament.
SJSU women’s basketball hits the road to play Boise State at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at ExtraMile Arena in Boise, Idaho.