By Haddy Barghouti – Spear Reporter | Redshirt Junior Finau Tonga goes up for a shot during SJSU’s 72-65 loss against New Mexico on Feb. 19. (Photo by Alexis Corona-Aguilar- Spear photographer)
San Jose State women’s basketball (10-19, 3-13 MW) lost a close one to Utah State (3-25, 2-14 MW) losing 82-75 on Wednesday.
SJSU got off to a fast start, up by six points at the end of the first quarter.
The Spartans were aggressive on the defensive end, as the Aggies shot just 37% from the field.
San Jose showed no signs of slowing down in the second quarter. They won the quarter and built a seven-point halftime advantage.
The Spartans’ offense cooled off in the second half, scoring just 16 points in the third and fourth quarters.
“Disappointing loss. I thought we had a really good first half, and then foul trouble and some other things came into place down the stretch in the second,” Spartans head coach April Phillips said.
The Spartans committed 11 total team fouls in the fourth quarter, and eight of those fouls came during the last two minutes.
Scoring came in bunches for the Spartans, as Spartans guard Amiah Simmons dropped a team-high 29 points on 50% shooting.
Simmons has now recorded back-to-back 20-plus scoring games after scoring 22 last game.
Spartans forward Finau Tonga joined the party in scoring, dropping 18 on 77 percent shooting.
Despite the poor offensive second half, the Spartans shot 8-for-24 from three, just above the Aggies’ 8-for-23.
The Spartans have now lost four games in a row, which is tied for their longest losing streak of the season.
SJSU will travel to Vegas to play UNLV on Saturday at 2 p.m., their last road regular-season game.
“We’re gonna continue to work, continue to get in the gym, and finish out strong,” Phillips said.
