By Keanu Haghighi (@KeanuHaghighi):
Second half struggles proved to be costly for the San Jose State women’s basketball team (1-4) as they were handed a 81-73 loss against the Hampton Pirates (2-3).
Sophomore point guard Taylor Turney continued her dominance on offense as she led the Spartans in scoring again with 20 points. She also had a team high of four assists on the afternoon.
Senior guard Alinna Starr and senior forward Monnazjea Finney-Smith had been carrying a majority of the Pirates scoring load entering the game. That pattern continued as they combined for 43 points which was good for over half of the Pirates scoring.
In addition, 22 points on 9/12 shooting from guard Ashley Bates was a huge boost for the Pirates.
San Jose State was struggling to stop Hampton from scoring in the paint which translated into 40 points inside for the Pirates compared to 24 for the Spartans.
Both teams were matched up well in the first half as they entered halftime knotted up at 42. SJSU started the 3rd quarter on a 8-0 run which gave them the lead for a majority of the quarter.
However, a 16-1 run over a span of five minutes at the end of the third catapulted the Pirates into the driver’s seat as they never looked back.
Another 8-2 run for Hampton to start off the fourth quarter essentially put the nail in the coffin for SJSU as the Pirates took a 13 point lead, their biggest lead of the game.
The Spartans only shot 32 percent from the field and 14 percent from beyond the arc in the second half where they were outscored 39-31.
SJSU will now travel to Santa Clara looking to snap its three-game losing streak against the Broncos on Tuesday at 7 p.m.