Nov. 12, 2013
Santa Clara, Calif. - A Britta Hall steal with seven seconds to play and a pair of Jayzyl Tauala free throws with three seconds left propelled the San Jose State women's basketball team to a 97-93 victory over the Santa Clara Broncos in the Leavey Center on Tuesday night.
"This was a great win for a couple of reasons," head coach Jamie Craighead said. "This team struggled on the road last season, so to get a win in our first try is good. In addition, we faced a lot of adversity. We had three players foul out and other people had to step up and they did."
Jasmine Smith fouled out with 5:17 to play. Riana Byrd, who finished with 10 points and a game high 14 rebounds, went to the bench with 1:23 to play and Classye James, who scored 16 points and hit seven of eight free throws down the stretch to keep the Spartans in the lead, fouled out with 23 seconds to go.
The Spartans (2-0) shot just 33 percent from the field in the first half. Despite the struggles from the floor, they took a 10-9 lead on a Rebecca Woodberry 3-pointer with 15:49 to go in the first half and maintained it until the last two minutes, when the Broncos (0-2) went on a 7-0 spurt and took a 51-47 lead into halftime.
Woodberry knocked down a three to open the second half, but it wasn't until a Ta'Rea Cunnigan layup with 16:22 to play, that the Spartans regained the lead. Cunnigan led all players with 29 points.
San Jose State controlled the game over the next 10 minutes, allowing Santa Clara a single lead, 79-78 with 6:11 to play.
From there the Spartans went on a 16-to-7 run over the next four-plus minutes and led by eight points, 94-86 with 1:37 to play.
Santa Clara trimmed the lead to two with 23 seconds left before the Hall steal and Tauala's free throws sealed the win.
The Broncos had three players in double figures led by Nici Gilday with 25. Vanessa Leo and Jo Paine had 19 and 12, respectively.
The Spartans return to the court on Friday, November 15, when they welcome UC Riverside to The Event Center. Tip off is set for 7:00 p.m.
San Jose State vs Santa Clara
11/12/13 5:30 pm at Leavey Center Santa Clara, Calif.
At Leavey Center Santa Clara, Calif.
SAN JOSE STATE 97, SANTA CLARA 93
SAN JOSE STATE (2-0)
Cunnigan, Ta'Rea 9-20 9-11 29; James, Classye 3-7 10-13 16; WOODBERRY,
Rebecca 6-15 0-0 15; Byrd, Riana 4-11 2-2 10; Smith, Jasmine 2-7 4-6 8;
Hall, Britta 3-10 0-0 8; Tauala, Jayzyl 1-4 4-4 7; West, Rachol 1-3 1-2 4;
Baird, Paris 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-78 30-38 97.
SANTA CLARA (0-2)
GILDAY, Nici 11-22 2-2 25; LEO, Vanessa 8-14 3-3 19; PAINE, Jo 3-6 6-7 12;
LILOMAIAVA, Arteivia 4-6 1-2 9; WALTERS, Montana 4-12 0-0 9; GALLAWAY,
Brooke 2-6 2-5 7; HAWKINS, Katie 1-4 4-5 6; AVILA, Raquel 2-4 0-0 4;
BERTHOLDT, Marie 0-1 2-2 2; ZURAUSKYTE, Ruta 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 35-76 20-26
93.
San Jose State................ 46 51 - 97
Santa Clara................... 51 42 - 93
3-point goals--San Jose State 9-26 (Woodberry, Rebecca 3-7; Hall, Britta
2-5; Cunnigan, Ta'Rea 2-5; West, Rachol 1-3; Tauala, Jayzyl 1-3; BAIRD,
Paris 0-1; James, Classye 0-2), Santa Clara 3-15 (GALLAWAY, Brooke 1-2;
WALTERS, Montana 1-8; GILDAY, Nici 1-4; HAWKINS, Katie 0-1). Fouled out--San
Jose State-JAMES, Classye; Smith, Jasmine; Byrd, Riana, Santa
Clara-GALLAWAY, Brooke. Rebounds--San Jose State 50 (Byrd, Riana 14), Santa
Clara 50 (LEO, Vanessa 7). Assists--San Jose State 10 (Cunnigan, Ta'Rea 4),
Santa Clara 23 (WALTERS, Montana 8). Total fouls--San Jose State 20, Santa
Clara 28. Technical fouls--San Jose State-None, Santa Clara-None.