By Casey Geier
The Spartans came into Reno with the hope of improving their seeding in the Mountain West Tournament, but lost soundly to the Wolf Pack 108-85.
San Jose State (10-18, MW 7-9) hung with the Nevada (11-17, 5-12 MW) for most of the first half, thanks to scoring by senior guard Dezz Ramos and senior forward Jasmine Smith, who totaled 32 of the Spartans 48 points in the half. The Spartans took a three-point lead heading into the locker room.
San Jose State forgot how to play defense in the third quarter, allowing Nevada a season-most 32 points.
The Spartans were unable to cut the lead down significantly after the collapse. Nevada took a 12-point lead to the fourth quarter, thanks to a handful of threes by senior guard Stephanie Schmid, who is the leading scorer for the Wolfpack this year. She finished the game with 32 points and eight made threes.
The biggest reason for the Spartans’ failure to keep up with the Wolfpack was their rebounding ineptitude; SJSU lost the rebounding battle 51-35.
Ramos and Smith were the only Spartans who were consistent offensively. They each scored 26 points, a career high for Smith. The rest of the Spartan players shot 11-37 from the field. The Spartans have lost games like this all season because their role players have not stepped up to provide secondary scoring.
With this loss, the Spartans will likely be confined to the eighth seed with one game remaining before the Mountain West Conference Tournament.
The Spartans will play their last game of the regular season at home on Senior Night in the Event Center on Friday at 7 P.M