Jan. 15, 2014
San Jose, Calif. - The San Jose State women's basketball team got 28 points from Ta'Rea Cunnigan and defeated the Air Force Academy Falcons 79-70 on Wednesday night to earn their first win in Mountain West play.
Cunnigan, the third leading scorer in the conference, hit 9-of-22 shots from the field and 8-of-13 from the line. She also had three steals and three blocks.
Rebecca Woodberry hit four 3-pointers in the first half on her way to 18 points. She has 48 treys on the year and moved into 10th place on the program's single season list. Woodberry also pulled down eight rebounds and nabbed a career-best three steals.
Riana Byrd grabbed 16 rebounds and scored nine points. Jasmine Smith added 10 points.
In the first 20 minutes, the Spartans (7-9, 1-4 MW) hitting 18-of-38 shots (47.4%). It was the best shooting half since they made 21-of-35 in the opening half against Sacramento State on December 7.
A Woodberry 3-pointer with 16:46 to go in the first period gave the Spartans an early 10-5 lead and after she hit a pair of free throws, with 1:22 to go before intermission, San José State had its largest advantage, 47-38. The Falcons (1-14, 0-5 MW) closed the half with a 4-to-0 spurt to send the teams to the locker room with the score 47-42.
A 10-to-4 Air Force run to open the second half had the teams tied 52-52 at the first media timeout, with 15:49 left. The Falcons continued their good play and opened a 58-53 lead with 13:33 left.
A foul by Jimi Blagowsky with 12:45 to play put the Spartans into the bonus for the remainder of the game. Cunnigan's 3-pointer with 10:50 to go gave the Spartans a 61-58 lead, which they never surrendered for the rest of the game.
San José State hit 11-of-15 free throws, including nine of their last 10 attempts, in the final 12 minutes and secured the nine-point win.
The Spartans used their height advantage to win the battle of the boards 49-to-41. They pulled down 17 offensive rebounds; scored 11 second chance points and had a 30-to-22 point advantage in points in the paint
Both teams hits 26 buckets and six 3-pointers. The difference in the game was a 21-to-12 advantage in made free throws.
Camille Thompson's 22 points led Air Force. Missy Byrd had 12 points and 10 rebounds. Blagowsky and Cherea Medina had 11 and 10 points, respectively.
The Spartans host the Wyoming Cowgirls in their next game. Tipoff is set for 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 18 in The Event Center.
Air Force vs San Jose State
01/15/14 7:00 p.m. at San Jose, Calif. (The Event Center)
At San Jose, Calif. (The Event Center)
SAN JOSE STATE 79, AIR FORCE 70
AIR FORCE (1-14, 0-5 MW)
THOMPSON, Camille 7-16 4-4 22; BYRD, Missy 5-10 2-4 12; BLAGOWSKY, Jimi 5-13
0-0 11; MEDINA, Cherae 3-13 3-4 10; LEWIS, Lindsey 2-4 3-5 7; PHILPOT,
Madeleine 3-6 0-0 6; JACKSON, Myah 1-2 0-0 2; LUJAN, Kelly 0-3 0-0 0. Totals
26-67 12-17 70.
SAN JOSE STATE (7-9, 1-4 MW)
Cunnigan, Ta'Rea 9-22 8-13 28; Woodberry, Rebecca 6-13 2-2 18; SMITH,
Jasmine 4-11 2-4 10; James, Classye 1-6 7-10 9; Byrd, Riana 4-8 1-2 9;
Baird, Paris 1-2 1-2 3; Hall, Britta 1-3 0-0 2; Tauala, Jayzyl 0-2 0-2 0;
West, Rachol 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 26-69 21-35 79.
Air Force..................... 42 28 - 70
San Jose State................ 47 32 - 79
3-point goals--Air Force 6-20 (THOMPSON, Camille 4-7; BLAGOWSKY, Jimi 1-6;
MEDINA, Cherae 1-5; LUJAN, Kelly 0-1; LEWIS, Lindsey 0-1), San Jose State
6-21 (Woodberry, Rebecca 4-10; Cunnigan, Ta'Rea 2-6; James, Classye 0-3;
Hall, Britta 0-1; Tauala, Jayzyl 0-1). Fouled out--Air Force-None, San Jose
State-SMITH, Jasmine. Rebounds--Air Force 41 (BYRD, Missy 10), San Jose
State 49 (Byrd, Riana 16). Assists--Air Force 17 (MEDINA, Cherae 8), San
Jose State 11 (James, Classye 3). Total fouls--Air Force 25, San Jose State
22. Technical fouls--Air Force-None, San Jose State-None. A-432