By CJ Peterson — Staff Writer
Striping a jump shot inside of the key with 18 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, sophomore forward Mikaylah Wilson gave San Jose State women’s basketball a chance to secure its first road win of the season.
With an 11-0 run to end the final period, the Spartans (2-21, 0-11 MW) rallied back from as large as a 13-point deficit against the UNLV Lady Rebels (9-16, 7-6 MW) on Saturday afternoon. However, their efforts were too little, too late as SJSU fell 74-70.
One month removed from its last meeting against the Lady Rebels, San Jose State began the game in a much more efficient fashion than its last.
Quadrupling their shooting percentage of 14.3 percent on Jan. 19, the Spartans hit nine of their first 16 shots (56.2 percent) in the first quarter.
Despite scoring 24 points in the opening period, SJSU found itself down by two after giving up 26 on the defensive side of the ball.
Many of the problems defensively came from the interior of the paint, where the Lady Rebels deployed centers Katie Powell and Wodjanae Wade.
Standing at 6-foot-4 and 6-foot-2 respectively, Powell and Wade combined for 32 of UNLV’s 74 points. Wade also hauled in a game-high 14 rebounds.
Overwhelmed by the size of the Lady Rebels, San Jose State was unable to contain or match the interior production, resulting in a five-point hole at halftime.
In the second half, the Spartans ran into the same issue. Using Wade, who would finish the game with a season-high 20 points, the Lady Rebels would open the third on a 9-2 run to give themselves a 12-point lead.
For the next 14 minutes of the game, SJSU would be unable to chip away at the UNLV lead, even letting it grow to as many as 13 points with 4:46 to play in the fourth.
With 2:48 to play, down 71-59, the Spartans made their final push, stringing together a pair of 3’s by junior and sophomore guards Fieme’a Hafoka and Megan Anderson.
With a trio of free throws courtesy of Anderson, would led the SJSU with 16 points, and freshman guard Raziya Potter, the Spartans had scored nine-unanswered points with under a minute and a half remaining.
After a turnover from Potter and a defensive stop, San Jose State had the ball back with 34 seconds left.
With 18 seconds left in the game, Wilson would rise up from inside of the key, knocking down her second, but most important, shot of the night to bring the Spartans within one point, 71-70.
Unfortunately for SJSU, that would be as close as its rally reached as it was forced to foul twice in the final 18 seconds of the game, allowing UNLV to escape with a 74-70 win.
With the loss, the women’s basketball team falls 0-12 on the road.
The Spartans concluded their two-game road trip with Colorado State on Wednesday.
Follow CJ on Twitter @cj_peterson1