By Hector Roldan (@HectorRSJSU) – Spear Reporter
Sophomore Sofia Kelemeni puts up a three late in the game to keep her team in the game. | Photo by Andrew Hartley – The Spear
San Jose State women’s basketball (6-17, 1-10 MW) falls to San Diego State (16-9, 7-5 MW) in the final seconds of the game 63-62. The Spartans stayed in it until the very end but a late offensive rebound by San Diego State senior guard Jada Lewis closed the door on San Jose. This came with nine seconds left in the game after the Spartans were unable to secure the defensive rebound.
Time definitely had an impact on players as freshman guard Sydni Summers was fatigued, playing the second-most minutes on the team with 34:24 in this game and unfortunately couldn’t get the final shot off in the final seconds of the game.
Bench play helped the Spartans stay in the match and they will look to rely on that part of the game moving forward. Sophomore guard Sofia Kelemeni played a key role for the Spartans, impacting the game in all phases.
“The energy was something really important, so we wanted to keep energy standard and keep that,” Kelemeni said. “We need to take this loss as a lesson and fix what we need to for the next games.”
Kelemeni had 12 points, six rebounds and five assists, showing she could be a key impactor as the season moves into its final stretch. Junior forward Amhyia Moreland had another strong performance putting up 18 points and five rebounds, but would unfortunately miss most of the fourth quarter along with junior forward Marisa Davis-Jones who both fouled out.
“It’s failure at times but as long as you move forward, that’s kind of the key to learning from it,” SJSU head coach April Phillips said. “I’ve experienced that buzzer-beater moment as a player myself, so I know how that feels.”
The Spartans will look toward their next matchup as they travel to The Pit to take on another Mountain West contender in the New Mexico Lobos, Wednesday at 6 p.m.