By Jose Trujillo (@jAy_Ay_T ):
The San Jose State women’s basketball team (2-8) will wrap up non-conference play as it hosts the Southern Oregon Raiders (11-1) Wednesday night.
Coming off an 81-55 defeat at home to Nebraska, the Spartans have lost four straight games with Mountain West play on the horizon.
Meanwhile, the Division III Raiders from the Cascade Collegiate Conference head into the mid-week matchup riding a four-game winning streak.
For the Spartans to come out with a win, an emphasis must be put on stopping Southern Oregon’s dynamic backcourt led by seniors Remi Mejia and Toria Bradford, the team’s two leading scorers.
This season, Mejia is averaging 17 ppg, 4 rpg and 2.8 steals per contest all while shooting 45 percent from the floor. In six of the last eight games, she has scored at least 18 points.
Bradford fills the facilitator role, leading the Raiders with 3.8 dimes per game and is second behind Mejia in scoring with 11.7 ppg.
No other Southern Oregon player has a double-digit scoring average. If the Spartans expect a win, stopping the Bradford-Mejia combo is critical.
A player to keep an eye on for SJSU will be sophomore point guard Taylor Turney, who has to make and create plays for her teammates if the Spartans want to come away victorious.
After averaging 4.4 points per game last year, she now leads the team in scoring with 13.6 points per game and in assist with 4.1 per game.
Myzhanique Ladd is also a player to look for. The senior guard is finishing off her college career strong averaging 12 points and 7 rebounds in 30 minutes per game.
But no matter how good both Turney and Ladd play, it will come down to rebounding and defense.
This season, the Spartans rebounding margin sits at -12 per game while allowing opponents to shoot 46 percent from the floor.
If San Jose State hopes to make any noise in the Mountain West, they will need to improve in both categories.
And it must start against Southern Oregon.
Tip-off is set for Wednesday 7 p.m. at the Event Center.