By Ernie Gonzalez — Assistant Executive Editor
San Jose State women’s basketball never trailed in its 84-76 win over San Diego State Saturday, improving its Mountain West conference record to 4-12.
The Spartans have now won three of their last four contests and are heating up with less than two weeks until the conference tournament, while the Aztecs fell for the fifth straight game.
Led by junior shooting guard Analyss Benally’s career-high 31 points and sophomore point guard Danae Marquez’s 15 assists, SJSU put its potential on display savagely.
“Being a point guard you go to have I.Q. and you have to have court vision,” Marquez said. “My teammates are doing a great job filling the lanes and they’re just making me look good in the process.”
Benally’s 31 points and Marquez’s 15 helpers reminded head coach Jaime Craighead a little bit about former SJSU point guard Dezz Ramos (2015-17), who was the last Spartan to eclipse each feat.
“I think there was a little bit of some Dezz Ramos magic in the building,” Craighead said.
Since the Air Force game on Feb. 23, Marquez has tallied 8, 9 and now 15 assists, exposing a new facilitator gene that wasn’t shown up until now in her collegiate career.
“Danae turned the corner right as we were about to start the second half of conference play,” Craighead said. “She’s definitely taking that step out of being a sophomore and you can already see her headed toward ‘I’m an upperclassman.’”
For Benally, who also hit a career-high seven 3-pointers in a game, said it was just a matter of staying open and trusting that the ball will find her.
“I was knocking down my shots tonight,” the Shiprock, New Mexico native said. “My teammates were finding me — they kept finding me and I just kept shooting.”
Sophomore shooting guard Megan Anderson also had herself a memorable game as she hit her 100th 3-pointer of her young career with 57 seconds left in the third period.
As for the Aztecs, freshman Sofia Ramos who entered the game as the team’s leading scorer averaging 14 points per game was contained to just 10 on 3-12 shooting. Mallory Adams, also a freshman, led the team with 16 points and 15 rebounds.
With the slight chance that these two teams might meet again in the postseason, tt’s just the beginning of the temblor that’s shaking up the lower half of the Mountain West standings.
“Every team through 6 and 11 is very interchangeable,” said Marquez. “It’s just one game. It’s not a series.”
And for coach Craighead, she’s sticking to what she’s been uttering all season.
“We know that we can compete with anyone in the conference,” Craighead said. “Our team is confident … I don’t think our team really fears anyone.”
The No. Spartans visit Laramie Monday night for another seed-setting matchup against the No. 3 Wyoming Cowgirls.
Follow Ernie on Twitter @superego1012