By Alex Valle — Staff Writer
San Jose State women’s basketball (2-17, 1-7 MW) aggressively took down Utah State (10-9, 5-3 MW) at home by a score of 68-59.
SJSU out rebounded Utah State 44-40, and held the Aggies to only 59 points. Considering the Spartans give up an average of 77 points a game, the effort on defense was a huge factor in the win.
“It was nice for them to get that win,” said head coach Jamie Craighead postgame. “I think it probably felt like an elephant off their back.”
The Spartan women consistently defended the paint while also attacking the boards. Being able to hold Utah State’s leading scorer Shannon Dufficy to only 4 points and 4 rebounds in the second half, SJSU capitalized on her missed opportunities.
The Spartans were able to play bigger than the taller team when it came to effort. The team was able to track down long rebounds and got more second-chance opportunities with their boards on the offensive glass.
In addition to the efforts around the rim and defense, sophomore guard Danae Marquez scored a career-high 21 points while also dishing out five assists and snagging a pair of steals.
“I’ve been in my head a lot lately, Marquez said. “Tonight I just wanted to play for my teammates and go out there and play as hard as I can.”
Aiding Marquez on the scoreboard was freshman guard Raziya Potter, who posted 16 points on 7-12 shooting from the field. Potter dominated throughout the game, especially when driving to the hoop.
Although SJSU shot 25 percent from the 3-point line, it stayed aggressive from beyond the arc and was able to pull away late.
Great ball movement opened up shots for Potter and Marquez and the Spartans confidently sealed their second win of the season.
“I thought Danae was huge, Razi was huge, but everybody contributed,” Craighead said.
SJSU will attempt to start its first win streak of the season as it goes on the road to take on San Diego State on Saturday.
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