By Sara Biela — Executive Editor
In a low-scoring contest, it came down to the final shot of the game for San Jose State (1-12, 0-2 MW) to force overtime. Ultimately, the Nevada (5-9, 1-2 MW) defense came up big and held on to win, 52-49.
The loss extends SJSU’s losing skid to nine games — but to head coach Jamie Craighead, there were notable improvements.
“I thought we did better about limiting their paint opportunities,” she said. “That’s pretty solid defense from us only giving up 52 points. We had a chance to win the game, but couldn’t get the ball down.”
Both sides had trouble finishing plays in the first half. Nevada made 10 shots on 30 attempts, with one from beyond the arc.
The Spartans shot 32 percent and only drained one 3-pointer out of 10 attempts. They would end the game 6-26 from 3.
“6-for-26 isn’t going to get it done,” Craighead said. “For the most part, I thought we took pretty good shots from the 3-point line. I believe in our shooters and hopefully they don’t hang their heads and you just got to come back from this.”
The scoring picked up in the third quarter as the Wolf Pack and Spartans shot for 46.2 and 43.8 percent, respectively.
SJSU gave Nevada many second-opportunities that lead to its biggest deficit at nine midway through the third. The Wolf Pack finished out-rebounding the Spartans 45-28, including 21-8 on the offensive glass.
“It’s not just the rebounding, but second-chances as well,” said junior forward Fieme’a Hafoka. “I think we struggle with that game in and game out, but I think we’re getting better at giving them fewer points.”
The Spartans stormed back as the 3-point shooting came alive in the fourth quarter. Sophomore guard Megan Anderson hit back-to-back 3’s to put the team ahead 44-42 with 5:33 left to play.
“I got good looks tonight, but just couldn’t put it in the hoop until the second half,” she said. “We wanted to play really hard tonight and we came out harder than usual. We were active on the defensive end and trying every possession.”
Down by 3 with 10 seconds remaining, Hafoka took the final shot from beyond the arc that bounced off the rim as time expired.
Hafoka recorded a team-high 13 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. Anderson followed with 9 points.
The Spartans will continue conference play against the reigning two-time Mountain West champion Boise State Broncos on Saturday.
“They won the Mountain West two years in a row, but that doesn’t matter. Anyone can win at any given time,” Hafoka said. “We need to go to Boise with the same mentality as we did tonight.”
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