By Kellen Concentine — Staff Writer
San Jose State women’s basketball (3-2) beat Sacramento State (1-2) 73-67 in a heavily contested battle at Provident Credit Union Event Center.
Sophomore guard Ayzhiana Basallo lead the Spartans to victory with 21 points, 11 assists. She shot 7-11 from the field and 3-4 behind the 3-point line.
“(Zhiana) went mock 90 in one direction, stopped on a dime and hit a jump shot at the free-throw line,” said head coach Jamie Craighead. “There’s just not a lot of people that can do that.”
The Hornets started the game fast, outscoring SJSU 21-12 in the first quarter while shooting 44 percent. During the second quarter, the Spartans took over by holding Sac State to only 10 points.
At the end of the second quarter, junior forward Tyra Whitehead left after suffering a left leg injury. However, she was able to return in the second half while finishing with her third double-double on the season.
“One thing about (Whitehead) is she has a pretty big tolerance for pain,” said Craighead.
With three of the starters in double digits, only one bench player was able to put the ball in the basket.
Junior guard Danae Marquez scored four points and shot the ball five times. Junior forward Cydni Lewis couldn’t make a basket but made up for it with eight rebounds.
Sophomore guard Summer Menke led the Hornets in scoring with 18 points and four 3-pointers.
Throughout the game, SJSU was able to capitalize on fastbreak points with 24. However, an emphasis on transition offense allowed Sac State to grab 16 offensive rebounds and score 21 second-chance points.
During crunch time, sophomore guard Raziya Potter and Whitehead were able to hit a few mid-range jumpers.
“To be honest, mid-range is something I’ve been working on,” said Potter. “At the end of the day, I was playing basketball. So if they gave it to me, I took it.”
Coach Craighead mentioned that a combination of their travel schedule and the two team’s fast-paced playing style caused her to use a smaller rotation.
“We played at Santa Barbara at 7 o’clock on Friday. We couldn’t get back until Saturday. We didn’t practice on Saturday because of the 5-hour bus ride, we just watched film. We got up this morning for a shoot around.”
The Spartans will be hosting the undefeated University of Buffalo at the Event Center this Thursday at 7:00 p.m.
Follow Kellen on Twitter @KC_Journalism