Nov. 8, 2013
Postgame interview with Coach Jamie Craighead
Postgame interview with Classye James and Jasmine Smith
San Jose, Calif. - In its opening game of the 2013-14 season, the San Jose State women's basketball team had five players score in double figures on their way to a 100-78 victory over the Gators of San Francisco State on Friday night in The Event Center.
"We shared the ball and hit the open person," head coach Jamie Craighead said. "Against a team that was playing zone for most of the night, we still got quite a few shots up and played pretty quickly."
Freshman Jasmine Smith led the way with 25 points and 11 rebounds. She was 10-for-14 from the field and added four steals in 25 minutes of work.
"Jasmine played hard and got after it tonight," Craighead said. "She can jump twice before her opponent jumps once. She and Riana (Byrd) are going to be a great one-two punch for us."
Juniors Rebecca Woodberry and Classye James had 13 points and 10 rebound and 20 points and six boards, respectively. Ta'Rea Cunnigan scored 17 points, 13 in the second half, and Britta Hall, a freshman from Tualatin, Ore., added 12 points and dished out seven assists.
The Spartans scored the first bucket of the game, a 3-pointer from James, and other than a pair of tie scores in the first five minutes, never trailed in the contest.
A layup by Smith, with 10:50 to play in the half, gave the Spartans their first double-digit lead at 22-12. But a pair of Katie Batlin free throws capped a 10-2 run by San Francisco State and got the Gators within a bucket, 24-22, at just over nine minutes to go before the half.
The Spartans closed the first 20 minutes with a 25-12 run and went to the locker room up 49-34.
A Hall 3-pointer, just over two minutes into the second half, pushed the San José State lead to 59-38. The Gators trimmed the lead to single digits, 61-52, with just inside 14 minutes to play, but a 9-0 run over the next two minutes gave the Spartans an 18-point advantage and from there they cruised to the 22-point win.
The 100 points are the most by a Spartans team in a season opener and just the fourth time in program's 38-year history that San José State has reached triple digits. The first occurrence came in the 1980-81 season, a 103-69 win over San Francisco State.
Craighead joins Hall of Famer Sharon Chatman and Tina Krah and the only head coaches to earn a victory in their San José State debut.
San Francisco State had four players in double figures led by Jennifer Le's 19 points.
San Jose State returns to action on Tuesday, November 12 at South-Bay rival Santa Clara. Tipoff in the Leavey Center is set for 5:30 p.m.
San Francisco State vs San Jose State
11/08/13 7:00 p.m. at San Jose, Calif. (The Event Center)
At San Jose, Calif. (The Event Center)
SAN JOSE STATE 100, SAN FRANCISCO STATE 78
SAN FRANCISCO STATE (0-0)
LE, Jennifer 8-10 0-1 19; SUTTON, Michelle 6-10 4-5 16; VARNEY, Lauren 6-15
3-5 15; BATLIN, Katie 4-15 4-9 12; FLANAGAN, Jasmine 2-5 0-0 6; VAN SICKEL,
Angela 2-12 0-0 5; ROCHA, Madison 1-4 0-0 3; GALARZA, Leticia 0-0 2-2 2;
HARDEN, Brianna 0-2 0-0 0; MAXWELL, Tiana 0-0 0-0 0; JUAREZ, Kristian 0-3
0-0 0; ALLISON, Brittaney 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-77 13-22 78.
SAN JOSE STATE (1-0)
Smith, Jasmine 10-14 5-10 25; James, Classye 6-10 5-7 20; Cunnigan, Ta'Rea
7-12 1-2 17; Woodberry, Rebecca 4-14 2-2 13; Hall, Britta 4-5 0-0 12; BYRD,
Riana 3-5 0-0 6; Tauala, Jayzyl 1-7 2-2 4; West, Rachol 1-7 0-0 3; BAIRD,
Paris 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 36-78 15-23 100.
San Francisco State........... 34 44 - 78
San Jose State................ 49 51 - 100
3-point goals--San Francisco State 7-21 (LE, Jennifer 3-4; FLANAGAN, Jasmine
2-3; ROCHA, Madison 1-2; VAN SICKEL, Angela 1-6; JUAREZ, Kristian 0-2;
BATLIN, Katie 0-3; SUTTON, Michelle 0-1), San Jose State 13-33 (Hall, Britta
4-5; Woodberry, Rebecca 3-11; James, Classye 3-4; Cunnigan, Ta'Rea 2-4;
West, Rachol 1-3; Tauala, Jayzyl 0-6). Fouled out--San Francisco State-None,
San Jose State-None. Rebounds--San Francisco State 37 (BATLIN, Katie 10),
San Jose State 55 (Smith, Jasmine 11). Assists--San Francisco State 17
(BATLIN, Katie 7), San Jose State 23 (Hall, Britta 7). Total fouls--San
Francisco State 22, San Jose State 21. Technical fouls--San Francisco
State-None, San Jose State-None. A-339