Jan. 29, 2014
Las Vegas, Nev. - Juniors Ta'Rea Cunnigan and Rebecca Woodberry combined for 45 points and shot better than 50 percent from the field, but the San Jose State women's basketball team couldn't overcome missed layups in the second half dropped a 90-76 Mountain West Conference game at the UNLV Rebels on Wednesday night.
Cunnigan and Woodberry combined to shoot more than 52 percent (17-for-33) in the game, but the rest of the team was just 9-for-33 (27 percent), a combined 39 percent for the game.
Woodberry hit four 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes, on her way to 18 points in the half and 20 for the game. She moved past Natalie White and Danada Smith into fifth place on the Spartans single-season 3-point list. She has made 58 3-pointers on the year and is three treys from tying Sara Plavljanin (61 in 2011-12) for fourth place. Woodberry also had a career-best four blocks.
San José State (8-12, 2-7 MW) shot 48 percent from the field in the first half, its best effort since a 60 percent first half at Sacramento State on December 7. Despite the good shooting, the Spartans trailed the Rebels (9-11, 6-2 MW) 43-38 at the half.
The difference in the period was the attempts and makes from the free throw line. UNLV made 10-of-11 while the Spartans were 3-of-4.
UNLV's Alana Cesarz scored five of her game-high 28 points in the first three minutes of the second half. She and the Rebels built a 15-point lead with 10:50 to play.
However, over the next five minutes, and led by nine of Cunnigan's team-high 25 points, the Spartans trimmed the UNLV lead to five, 73-68 with 5:14 to go.
Poised to close the gap even further, the Spartans missed three straight layups on their next three possessions. While San José State couldn't buy a hoop down the stretch, UNLV scored eight consecutive times down the floor and closed out the 90-76 win.
"We are a young team and we are not very deep," head coach Jamie Craighead said. "We can't afford to miss easy chances and then allow points on the other end. The difference was about five stops, we didn't get, and point-blank shots, we didn't make."
UNLV shot 57 percent in the second half and in addition to Cesarz had three players finish in double figures.
The Spartans next game, against the New Mexico Lobos, will be on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. in the De Anza College Main Gym.
San Jose State vs UNLV
01/29/14 7 pm at Las Vegas, Nev. (Cox Pavilion)
At Las Vegas, Nev. (Cox Pavilion)
UNLV 90, SAN JOSE STATE 76
SAN JOSE STATE (8-12, 2-7 MW)
Cunnigan, Ta'Rea 10-19 3-3 25; Woodberry, Rebecca 7-14 2-2 20; JAMES,
Classye 1-10 8-10 10; Byrd, Riana 3-9 0-0 6; Tauala, Jayzyl 2-3 0-0 6;
Smith, Jasmine 1-6 2-4 4; West, Rachol 1-1 0-0 3; Hall, Britta 1-4 0-0 2;
Baird, Paris 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-66 15-19 76.
UNLV (9-11, 6-2 MW)
CESARZ, Alana 11-15 1-2 28; MILLER, Danielle 5-17 4-4 15; ROHDE, Aley 5-10
1-1 11; CALLAWAY, Amie 4-11 3-4 11; VERIN, Rejane 4-8 0-0 8; HAYNES, Rmanii
4-6 0-0 8; BELL, Mia 1-7 4-4 6; CHARLES, Briana 1-2 0-0 2; BARTEE, Jazmyne
0-0 1-2 1; MODEREGGER, Fredi 0-0 0-0 0; COOK, Jehiah 0-0 0-0 0; MAJOR,
Diamond 0-0 0-0 0; MURNAN, Denali 0-0 0-0 0; ANDERSON, Amanda 0-1 0-0 0.
Totals 35-77 14-17 90.
San Jose State................ 38 38 - 76
UNLV.......................... 43 47 - 90
3-point goals--San Jose State 9-26 (Woodberry, Rebecca 4-9; Cunnigan, Ta'Rea
2-8; Tauala, Jayzyl 2-3; West, Rachol 1-1; Hall, Britta 0-1; James, Classye
0-4), UNLV 6-10 (CESARZ, Alana 5-5; MILLER, Danielle 1-1; HAYNES, Rmanii
0-1; BELL, Mia 0-1; CHARLES, Briana 0-1; ANDERSON, Amanda 0-1). Fouled
out--San Jose State-None, UNLV-None. Rebounds--San Jose State 35 (JAMES,
Classye 7), UNLV 49 (CESARZ, Alana 11). Assists--San Jose State 14 (HALL,
Britta 8), UNLV 26 (HAYNES, Rmanii 11). Total fouls--San Jose State 17, UNLV
19. Technical fouls--San Jose State-None, UNLV-None. A-716