By Austin Turner — Content Editor
Despite a late push, San Jose State’s women’s basketball team fell 62-56 to Santa Clara on Saturday.
The Spartans lost a 10-9 lead in the first quarter and never regained it. The Broncos held a comfortable lead for much of the game, until the fourth quarter when the Spartans made a late charge.
After being down 8 with just over three minutes remaining, they went on a 7-point run thanks to some key defensive stops. Unfortunately for the Spartans, the comeback attempt failed when Santa Clara closed the game by going on its own 5-0 run.
SCU sophomore forward Ashlyn Herlihy put on quite the performance. She led the game with 20 points on 44 percent shooting and 11 rebounds, with 5 of them being on the offensive glass.
Rebounding was the difference in the game. The Broncos beat the Spartans 44-34 on the boards, and had 14 offensive rebounds.
“Everybody needs to rebound more,” said coach Jamie Craighead. “We aren’t getting that from everyone.”
On the SJSU side, it was a rough shooting night. The team’s leading scorer, sophomore forward Cydni Lewis, had an off night.
She was just 3-11 from the floor, turned the ball over twice and finished with 7 points.
Picking up the slack was junior guard Fieme’a Hafoka, who was terrific. She matched her season high with 17 points off of 8-11 shooting and had 6 assists.
“She’s starting to step into her own,” Craighead said. “We feel really confident about her abilities.”
The Spartans hope to win their second game of the season on Wednesday when they travel down south to take on Cal State Northridge.
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