By Ernie Gonzalez (@superego1012):
San Jose State women’s basketball (6-14, 3-6 MW) was kept in check to a season-low 46 points as it fell on the road to the Wyoming Cowgirls (14-5, 7-1 MW) 58-46.
The Spartans never fell into a rhythm as their two leading scorers, guards Taylor Turney and Myzhanique Ladd were limited to a combined 4-15 from the floor for just 10 points. The team as a whole had four assist the entire game.
“Obviously Taylor and My-My [Ladd] having off nights on the offensive end together is not good,” head coach Jamie Craighead said after the loss in an interview with Spartan Athletics. “My-My just never seemed to get involved and Taylor just missed some shots that she’s used to making.”
It was a slow start for SJSU as they allowed the Cowgirls to score the first eight points of the game and trailed by as many as 14 in the first quarter.
The Spartans would cut it to as little as four in the fourth quarter, but were never able to put together a run on the offensive end.
“We just couldn’t hit some shots,” Craighead said. “It’s that consistency that we need on both ends … we had it cut, we had our chances.”
The Spartans never scored more than 13 points in any quarter, putting up 11, 13, 13 and nine respectively.
Wyoming didn’t share the same problem as San Jose State however, as guard Liv Roberts did what she does best: score. She finished with 20 and got help from forward Bailee Cotton with 16 points and eight rebounds in 34 minutes.
As a team, the Spartans shot 20-56 (35.7 percent) and converted from behind the arc just three times all game.
Guard Analyss Benally was responsible for two of those triples, giving her 46 on the season, one shy of the sophomore record for three-pointers made in a second season.
Fouling was a separate issue, as the Spartans had 10 more personal fouls than the Cowgirls (16-6), which made it easier on Wyoming to want to play aggressive while the Spartans were forced into a much more passive playing style.
Fieme’a Hafoka had a led the Spartans with 10 points (eight in the first half) and it’s the first time this season the guard carried the team.
Freshman forward Cydni Lewis got it going in the third quarter and finished with nine points and four rebounds.
Next up for SJSU is a home-matchup against UNLV on Wednesday, a team they lost to 79-60 earlier this season.