Nov. 17, 2013
San Jose, Calif. - Trailing by 10, 66-56, with 9:34 to play, the San Jose State women's basketball team ripped off 16-straight points to grab a six-point advantage and never looked back defeating the University of Evansville Purple Aces 90-84 on Sunday afternoon in The Event Center.
"That is how this is supposed to work," head coach Jamie Craighead said of her team's quick scoring style. "If people want to play up-tempo with us, all the better. We just have to continue to run and know at some point our opponents are going to wear down. And, when we're fatigued, that we're going to fight through it mentally."
In the run, junior Rebecca Woodberry hit three of her game-high five 3-pointers in route to a team-high 18 points.
"It's about relaxing and not rushing my shots," Woodberry said. "Tonight I was able to settle down and hit the open shot when it came to me."
The Spartans (3-1) jumped out to an early lead, but a Sarah Dickey layup, with 16:27 before the half, gave the Purple Aces an 8-6 lead. They extended the advantage to eight points three times over the next 13 minutes, the last coming at 40-32 with 2:57 to go.
San José State closed the half on a 12-to-2 run, led by six points from Jasmine Smith and a 3-pointer from Rachol West. They took a 42-40 lead into the locker room at the half.
The teams traded buckets early in the second half before Evansville (1-3) took control with 18 minutes to play. Over the next eight minutes they built two 10-point leads, the last being 66-56.
"Becca hit three big shots and that kind of separated us from then and we didn't have to play it wire-to-wire," Craighead said. "I was happy with our effort. They pressed us; we broke it and turned it into fast-break opportunities. In all, I though we played well as a team."
The Spartans bench outscored Evansville 24-to-7. Coming off the bench Smith had 13 points and 12 rebounds. West scored six points, on a pair of 3-pointers, and Paris Baird hit a three and a shot from the floor.
In addition to Woodberry and Smith, the Spartans had three other players in double figures. Riana Byrd had 13 points, Britta Hall 11 and Ta'Rea Cunnigan scored 17 and dished out seven assists.
For Evansville, Dickey hit 18, of her game-high 23 points, in the first half. Taylor Kat added 21 points and Sasha Robinson and Mallory Ladd had 10 points, 10 rebounds and 16 points, 11 rebounds, respectively.
The Spartans are back in The Event Center on Wednesday, November 20 against Bay Area rival San Francisco. Tip off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
Evansville vs San Jose State
11/17/13 2:00 p.m. at San Jose, Calif. (The Event Center)
At San Jose, Calif. (The Event Center)
SAN JOSE STATE 90, EVANSVILLE 84
EVANSVILLE (1-3)
Dickey, Sara 7-21 7-8 23; Taylor, Kat 5-8 9-10 21; Ladd, Mallory 4-7 6-8 16;
Robinson, Sasha 4-7 2-2 10; Weatherford, Dakota 3-8 0-0 7; Ellerson, Katie
2-9 0-0 4; McLeod, Paris 1-3 0-0 2; Gustin, Kenzie 0-0 1-2 1; Liles, Miranda
0-1 0-0 0; Friday, Laura 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 26-68 25-30 84.
SAN JOSE STATE (3-1)
Woodberry, Rebecca 5-9 3-4 18; Cunnigan, Ta'Rea 6-17 5-7 17; Smith, Jasmine
6-14 1-2 13; Byrd, Riana 4-10 4-7 12; Hall, Britta 3-4 3-4 11; JAMES,
Classye 2-13 4-4 8; West, Rachol 2-7 0-0 6; Baird, Paris 2-4 0-0 5; TAUALA,
Jayzyl 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-79 20-28 90.
Evansville.................... 42 42 - 84
San Jose State................ 44 46 - 90
3-point goals--Evansville 7-27 (Ladd, Mallory 2-4; Taylor, Kat 2-3; Dickey,
Sara 2-7; Weatherford, Dakota 1-6; Friday, Laura 0-4; McLeod, Paris 0-1;
Ellerson, Katie 0-2), San Jose State 10-27 (Woodberry, Rebecca 5-7; WEST,
Rachol 2-7; Hall, Britta 2-3; Baird, Paris 1-1; James, Classye 0-4; TAUALA,
Jayzyl 0-1; Cunnigan, Ta'Rea 0-4). Fouled out--Evansville-Robinson, Sasha;
Ladd, Mallory, San Jose State-SMITH, Jasmine. Rebounds--Evansville 45 (Ladd,
Mallory 11), San Jose State 46 (Smith, Jasmine 12). Assists--Evansville 21
(Weatherford, Dakota 8), San Jose State 14 (Cunnigan, Ta'Rea 7). Total
fouls--Evansville 23, San Jose State 22. Technical fouls--Evansville-None,
San Jose State-None. A-186