By Jose Trujillo (@jAy_Ay_T):
The season tipped off with a preseason win for the San Jose State women’s basketball team as they defeated Stanislaus State 83-72 on Sunday afternoon.
It was the first game under the lights for the second youngest team in the NCAA and early season jitters were evident.
That goes for both teams.
While there was no lack of energy, most it was nervousness. The first quarter saw the team’s shoot a combined 11-53 from the field, good for 20 percent.
“I think they were a little nervous and tight, I could see it,” said San Jose State women’s basketball head coach Jamie Craighead. “We’ve played pretty well in practice and stayed pretty loose, we played in really loose in a scrimmage, but there was nobody in the stands.”
This is expected, and is why teams schedule exhibitions. These games allow players to release their nerves and adjust to the game speed while coaches figure out rotations and substitutions.
And with a team returning only one starter that is important.
“Right now we are just trying to gear towards the Mountain West Conference and making sure that by the time we get there we have our rotations, we have our bench set, and have everybody that understands their role and their job,” Craighead said.”
One player who clearly understands her role is senior guard Myzhanique Ladd. The lone returning starter already looked in midseason form.
Ladd finished the game with 12 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, and five steals.
“I’m looking to attack more, and be more of a scorer,” Ladd said. “I’m trying to do my job as a captain and be a leader on the court, so whether it is scoring or defensively it doesn’t matter to me, I’m trying to help my teammates out.”
And Ladd can help the most with rebounding as she did Sunday afternoon. With the departure of last seasons leading rebounder Jasmine Smith, rebounding will be an area for concern for the Spartans, and it was evident on the first game of the season.
The Warriors outrebounded the Spartans 59-47, 17 of those were offensive.
“It’s their offensive rebounds that are the problem,” Craighead said. “The 17 offensive rebounds cannot be more than 10 against a Stanislaus State, because what’s it going to look on Friday when we play UCLA.”
The team also stressed the need to improve their pace of play. The Spartans finished 30-83 on field goal attempts but feel the number of shots can increase.
“I think we wanna shoot the ball more, we want to play at a faster pace and shoot a lot more than what we did tonight,” said sophomore guard Fa-Ko-Fieme’a Hafoka. “We have to play at a high intensity and high speed.”
The Spartans will have four days to prepare for what will be their most daunting task all season — a trip to southern California for a non-conference matchup with No. 7 UCLA.
If this game doesn’t get you ready for Mountain Conference play, nothing will.
The Spartans and Bruins will tip-off at 7 p.m. on Friday in Pauley Pavilion.