Women’s hoops continues to win, even without Basallo

By Sofia Wright — Content Editor

The San Jose State women’s basketball team continued to see success against Division III University of La Verne (6-4), and made history with a 128-62 win. 

“That was a good win,” said head coach Jamie Craighead after the victory. “Obviously it was a great shooting day for us. It was awesome seeing some of the kids who don’t always get a lot of time get in there and give us a glimpse of the future.”

Though the Spartans (8-3) were dominant on both ends of the floor, starting guard Ayzhiana Basallo went down at the three minute mark, just before halftime.

Without her, three players stepped up and finished with a double-double: Tyra Whitehead, Raziya Potter and Danae Marquez. 

But with Basallo out, questions are raised and uncertainty lies with several roadtrips ahead for the Spartans.

Basallo Out

Most can agree: Basallo has been the Spartan’s pilot on offense this season. 

She collided with a Leopard defender on a fastbreak with three minutes to play in the first half and immediately grabbed her lower left leg in what seemed to be excruciating pain. She came out of the locker room after halftime on crutches.

At best, it’s a tweaked ankle, and those don’t take a week to recover from. She will definitely be missed, especially if she’s still on the bench come New Years Day, which is when SJSU plays its next conference game. 

Even without Basallo, SJSU looked fine

Granted, it is La Verne, a D-3 school that just came off a 111-56 loss to Fresno State. But, the Spartans were made an even bigger statement: they had the highest point total in SJSU women’s basketball history.

As mentioned, the team had three players in double-double figures. And seven Spartans finished the afternoon scoring in double figures.

Along with a heightened stat-line, the team doubled their per-game average in steals to 22. 

Speaking of averages, the team averaged over 30 points a quarter. They also shot 55.4 percent from the field by the end of the game.

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