By Hugo Vera — Staff Writer
Fieme’a Hafoka scored a career-high 17 points as San Jose State women’s basketball fell to the Pacific Tigers, 91-67.
The junior guard was 7-13 from the field as the Spartans (1-4) shot 40 percent as a team.
The first half proved to be arduous for the Spartan defense. Missed field goal attempts by forward Cydni Lewis and Hafoka led to a 3-0 run made by Tiger guards Ameela Li and Tylah King.
Further throw-ups by King widened the Tigers’ 5-0 lead over the Spartans until Hafoka ended the scoring streak with a layup of her own as well as field goal made by Spartan center Alexis Harris.
The Spartans’ offensive woes persisted in the second quarter with a series jumpshot 3-pointers made by Li and King. The Tigers would go on to catch 22 fast breaks and 20 points in the paint to take the first half 54-24.
The third quarter proved to be a rallying point for the Spartans as Lewis went on to have one of her best nights from beyond the three-point line.
The sophomore from Long Beach went 3-3 from the free-throw line and 4-9 from the field to help the Spartans outscore the Tigers by 13 points in the third quarter.
“We definitely got off to a slow start but it was all about regaining momentum and to start zoning the ball more,” Lewis said. “It’s still preseason and before we get into conference play we just have to watch the rebounds and not make the same mistakes too late.”
Lewis continued to dominate the third quarter with a lay-up that was soon followed with a 3-pointer from Spartan guard Analyss Benally.
Tigers guard Isabel Newman turned over the ball when it was stolen from her by Spartan point guard Danae Marquez, who proceeded to go 3-2 in the paint.
“It was really all about coming back from that first half and looking to where the zones are,” said Hafoka. “We need to continue making 3-pointers, getting the ball in the paint and continue with the rebounding.”
Despite the Spartans taking the third quarter 25-18, Li and Tigers guard Jessica Blakeslee continued to wreak havoc from beyond the arc.
Blakeslee went 8-10 in her field goal attempts, which were followed by a foul picked up by Valerie Higgins.
Spartan guard Raziya Potter resuscitated the offense with a steal but later turned over the ball after toppling into Newman.
Despite a series of lay-ups made by Hafoka and Marquez, and a blocks made by Spartan guard Megan Anderson, the Tigers widened the lead to take the fourth quarter and ultimately the game with a final score of 91-67.
“When you look at the third quarter, it was just what I reminded the girls. We were down but not out,” said head coach Jamie Craighead. “They outplayed us and we ran out of gas in the fourth.”
“It’s difficult. We even had Razi [Potter] playing three different positions but it’s just about handling our personnel” she continued. “There were times when we deferred a lot of threes but we still had 17 shots. We got a lot of minutes in and that’s how the game is.”
The Spartans resume interconference play when they host the UC Irvine Anteaters on Sunday.
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