By Jose Trujillo (@jAy_Ay_T ):
On the road for its second straight conference game, San Jose State’s women’s basketball (4-10, 1-2 MW) fell to the University of Nevada – Las Vegas (5-7, 2-0 MW) 79-60 Wednesday night.
From the start, the Lady Rebels’ size and physicality proved to be too much for the Spartans.
In the first quarter, the Spartans committed nine personal fouls leading UNLV to convert on 12 of 13 free throws. Beside the fouls, SJSU held UNLV to under 30 percent shooting in the quarter, but trailed 21-16.
The struggles ensued in the second frame for SJSU as the Lady Rebels ratcheted-up their already dominant defense and held the Spartans to just eight points.
Trailing by 12 at the break, the Spartans had only eight made field goals on 23 percent shooting and were being outrebounded by 15.
UNLV’s rebounding success didn’t stop there, as it continued to bully the Spartans on the boards, ultimately coming down with 55 on the game, 25 more than SJSU.
Offense was also a problem for the Spartans as they were outscored by the Lady Rebels 20-13 in the third.
For a team that lives and dies by the three ball, SJSU’s 5-30 from deep didn’t help either.
For the entire game, the Spartans shot 30 percent from the floor on 18-60 field goal attempts and had only 11 assists. UNLV only sank 1 of 11 threes, but it’s strong inside game and ability to draw fouls was all it needed.
For the Spartans, only two players managed to finish in double figures on the scoring column.
Taylor Turney finished with 13 points, two rebounds and 1 assists in her return back home.
Myzhanique Ladd had a rough shooting night, but made seven of ten free throws on her way to 11 points, five assists and five rebounds.
On the other side, two UNLV players recorded double-doubles. Paris Strawther finished with 18 points, 11 rebounds and five steals. Katie Powell scored 11 points and pulled down 13 rebounds. Brooke Johnson finished with 16 points.
Next up for the Spartans is a home matchup against a very tough New Mexico team. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. on Saturday in The Event Center.