By Lexie Shezifi — Reporter
San Jose State women’s basketball started its season off with an exciting victory over UC Berkeley Wednesday evening, defeating the Golden Bears 56-48.
Things looked uncertain for the Spartans early as Cal led 17-8 at the end of the first quarter.
SJSU was able to turn the momentum around in the second quarter, outscoring the Bears 11-6 and coming within just four points heading into halftime.
Senior forward Tyra Whitehead finished the evening with a game-high 12 points and 10 rebounds as she helped lead the Spartans to their first victory of the season.
Junior point guard Ayzhiana Basallo had a solid outing, coming off a strong last season where she averaged 18.5 points and 4.6 assists per game.
She went 8-for-8 on free throws, scoring the team’s only points from the line for the game.
Basallo is the fourth Spartan in history to be named to the preseason All-Mountain West Conference team, which she was awarded on Nov. 19.
Senior forward Cydni Lewis also had a solid night with 10 points, five rebounds and one block.
The key to the game for the Spartans was minimizing turnovers and playing solid defense.
Whitehead ended the game with five steals and two blocks, which were all at key moments for the Spartans and helped turn the game around.
As a team, SJSU had eight turnovers and five steals compared to Cal’s 23 turnovers and three steals.
While defense was a huge part of the Spartan’s’ success in the game, offensively the team had some great moments.
Senior guard Courtesy Clark went 2-for-3 on three-point shots for the evening in addition to corralling five offensive rebounds.
The game was close for the entire fourth quarter, but the Spartans managed to pull away in the end with a 6-0 run to close out the game.
The team is looking ahead to Monday’s game at the University of San Francisco where the Spartans will take on the Dons.
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