By James Kim (@Jdkim38):
San Jose State women’s basketball lost its fourth straight game after a tough battle on its home-court to the University of Nebraska, falling 81-55.
The Cornhuskers (8-3) built an early 6-0 lead, but the Spartans (2-8) punched back and trailed 17-14 after one quarter of play.
Nebraska was led by junior forward Maddie Simon’s 20 points, while sophomore guard Eliely Nicea had 13.
The ‘Huskers controlled the game throughout, winning not only in the field goal department (82-53), but crushing in the rebounds category with three shy than SJSU scored in points all game with 52.
As for scoring, sophomore Fimea Hafoka and senior Myzhanique Ladd had 12 points each.
The Spartans shot just 68 percent from the charity strike, tallying 11 missed free throws, a statistic that has haunted SJSU this season.
As far as the competition, head coach Jamie Craighead embraces it. “You’ve got to play people and find out what you’re made of,” she said postgame.
Freshman Cydni Lewis has really found her groove as of late. Lewis scored the first seven points of the game for SJSU, and finished one point shy of a double-double. She also had four blocked shots, making her presence felt inside.
“Cyd had a really good game … I thought she gave us that spark,” Craighead said.
In terms of what this means moving forward, sophomore guard Fa-Ko-Fieme’a Hafoka called it a stepping stone, especially for a team so young.
“Defensively, we just have to play harder,” Hafoka said.
The Spartan’s next game will be against the University of Southern Oregon at 7:00 p.m. on Dec. 20 in The Event Center.