Nov. 23, 2013
San José. Calif. - The San José State women's basketball team suffered its worst shooting night of the season, hitting just 35 percent (21-for-59), and lost to the University of San Diego Toreros 88-60 on Saturday afternoon in The Event Center.
"We struggled on defense and our spacing on offense wasn't good," junior guards Classye James said. "We never got in to a rhythm, started turning the ball over which turned into fast-break opportunities for them."
USD (4-0) forced the Spartans into 23 turnovers, which it turned into 30 points going the other way. The Toreros offense was led by Felicia Wijenberg who had 18 on 8-of-11 shooting from the floor and a pair of free throws. Four other players reached double figures in the scoring column, including Sophia Ederaine who had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The Spartans' offense was led by Jasmine Smith's 13-points and 10 rebounds. The game marks the fourth time, in six games, that Smith has recorded a double double. Rebecca Woodberry and Ta'Rea Cunnigan had 11 and 10 points, respectively.
The Toreros dominated the boards 61-31, had a 22-to-8 advantage in second chance points and a 44-to-28 lead in points in the paint.
The Spartans, (4-2) who want to play a high tempo offense and pressure defense, allowed a taller San Diego team get into its half court offense and slow the game down.
"We let them dictate the pace of the game," sophomore center Riana Byrd said. "We should have stuck to what we were supposed to be doing, but things started going bad and we never seemed to be able to turn it back around."
When the Spartans did press USD was able to, with crisp passing, break it and get layup opportunities.
The game was back and fourth for the first seven minutes and the Spartans held a 13-12 advantage with 13 minutes to play in the half, but from that point on USD outscored San José State 26-to-9 to close out the half, including 18 points coming off layups.
San Diego came out in the second half and shot 72 percent (13-for-18) in the first 12 minutes and had its largest lead of the game, 36-points, at 80-44. From there they cruised to the 28-point victory.
"We seemed to be standing around a lot and looking for someone else to do something rather than initiating the play," James said.
"We are still very new in this system. Some night we look good and others we struggle," Byrd said. "We just have to put this behind us and move on."
The Spartans play their next three games on the road beginning at the UC Davis Aggies on Tuesday, November 26. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m.
San Diego vs San Jose State
11/23/13 3:00 p.m. at San Jose, Calif. (The Event Center)
At San Jose, Calif. (The Event Center)
SAN DIEGO 88, SAN JOSE STATE 60
SAN DIEGO (4-0)
WIJENBERG, Felicia 8-11 2-4 18; HOOD, Malina 6-13 2-3 15; BARLOW, Alysse
5-10 0-0 12; KAME, Amy 3-5 4-4 10; EDERAINE, Sophia 3-8 4-4 10; McDANIEL,
Katelyn 4-16 0-0 9; JELNIKER, Brooke 2-11 1-1 5; HAMILTON, Kathrine 1-2 0-2
3; KNUTSON, Kameron 1-1 0-2 2; EDERAINE, Sophie 1-3 0-0 2; GIL, Ivette 1-1
0-0 2; WOODWARD, Cori 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 35-81 13-20 88.
SAN JOSE STATE (4-2)
Smith, Jasmine 5-12 3-8 13; Woodberry, Rebecca 4-9 0-0 11; Cunnigan, Ta'Rea
3-9 3-5 10; James, Classye 3-8 2-3 9; Byrd, Riana 3-7 2-5 8; Hall, Britta
2-7 2-3 6; West, Rachol 1-6 0-0 3; Baird, Paris 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-59
12-24 60.
San Diego..................... 38 50 - 88
San Jose State................ 22 38 - 60
3-point goals--San Diego 5-9 (BARLOW, Alysse 2-4; HAMILTON, Kathrine 1-1;
HOOD, Malina 1-2; McDANIEL, Katelyn 1-2), San Jose State 6-17 (WOODBERRY,
Rebecca 3-7; James, Classye 1-4; West, Rachol 1-3; Cunnigan, Ta'Rea 1-2;
Hall, Britta 0-1). Fouled out--San Diego-None, San Jose State-None.
Rebounds--San Diego 61 (McDANIEL, Katelyn 12), San Jose State 31 (SMITH,
Jasmine 10). Assists--San Diego 26 (JELNIKER, Brooke 5), San Jose State 11
(Hall, Britta 5). Total fouls--San Diego 22, San Jose State 17. Technical
fouls--San Diego-None, San Jose State-None. A-1433