Feb. 1, 2014
Cupertino, Calif. - The San Jose State women's basketball team led by as many as nine points in the second half but came up on the short end of a 76-73 final score against the New Mexico Lobos on Saturday afternoon in the Main Gym on the campus of De Anza College.
"In the second half we gave up to many offensive rebounds and second chance opportunities and we didn't close out the game," head coach Jamie Craighead said. "When it was a nine-point game (55-46 with 11:48 to play), we should have pushed it out to 12 or 15. We had a couple of opportunities, but we let them stay in it and they made a run."
The Spartans (8-13, 2-8 MW) had a chance to tie the game with a 3-pointer in the final seconds. Sophomore guard Jayzul Tauala got the ball in the left corner and launched a shot that rimmed out with two seconds left.
"We had fives shooters on the court in that last possession," Craighead said. "Jay had a great look from the baseline and took it. I thought it was going in from the moment it left her hand. It didn't go in, but next time she'll knock that shot down."
Ta'Rea Cunnigan scored 16 points in the first half and a game-high 23 on the night. She also led the team with four steals, three assists and grabbed five rebounds. The junior guard out of Winchester, Calif., moved into fifth place on the Spartans career-scoring list, passing Kari Steele (1,340 points, 1994-97). Cunnigan has 1,346 career points.
`Ta'Rea was active on the defensive end and did a good job on the boards," Craighead said. "She is battling through some tough injuries, that I think other players wouldn't be able to work through. In the second half she got a bit fatigued and she lost some of her explosiveness, but she is a force for us and the other team has to always know where she is."
The Spartans trailed 42-36 at the half, but in less that three and one half minutes had erased the lead. A layup by Rebecca Woodberry tied the score at 43-43 with 16:32 to play. When she hit a 3-pointer with 15 minutes left, the Spartans had their first lead since 19-17 with 10:48 left in the first half.
A Britta Hall layup and free throw to complete the 3-point play gave San Jose State its largest lead of the game 55-46 with 11:48 to go.
New Mexico (8-12, 3-6 MW) tied the game 59-59 with 7:22 to play and a Classye James 3-pointer on the Spartans next possession was their last lead of the game. The Lobos went on a 14-to-6 spurt and had a 73-68 lead with 2:22 left. Cunnigan had a layup and James drained another three to make it a one-point game, 74-73 with 1:30 to go.
Antiesha Brown sunk a jumper for a 76-73 lead with just over a minute to play and after Tauala's last second 3-pointer rimmed out the Lobos had escaped with the win.
"I think at times we got stagnant," Craighead said. "When you have kids playing out of position, they tend to think more than just react and play. That was affected us in the second half.
They had a size advantage and we had a speed advantage. In the first half, we were trying to get to the rim and get their bigs in foul trouble. That was key for us on the boards. Unfortunately, we couldn't keep it up after Riana (Byrd) and Jasmine (Smith) got in foul trouble and ultimately fouled out. (The UNM) posts did a good job blocking Jasmine from getting to the glass and that was a big factor.
San Jose State was out rebounded 40-to-34 including 21-to-9 on the offensive glass. Deeva Vaughn led the Lobos with 10 rebounds and added 11 points. James was the Spartans leader on the glass with nine rebounds to go along with 14 points. Smith scored 12 points and Woodberry added 10 for San José State.
In Tauala's first start of the year, she logged a season-high 31 minutes and scored five points.
"It was great to see Jayzyl and Rachol (West, who had two steals and three rebounds) give us quality minutes," Craighead said. "The confidence they gain from their play tonight will help us down the stretch."
The Spartans have a week off before hosting Fresno State on February 8 in The Event Center. Tip off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m., and it will be San José State's "Pink" game for Breast Cancer Awareness. The first 500 people through the doors will receive a pink "Spartans Pride" t-shirt.
New Mexico vs San Jose State
02/01/14 2:00 p.m. at Cupertino, Calif. (Main Gym)
At Cupertino, Calif. (Main Gym)
NEW MEXICO 76, SAN JOSE STATE 73
NEW MEXICO (8-12, 3-6 MW)
HALASZ, Sara 7-14 3-3 18; SHUMPERT, Khadijah 6-10 4-9 16; BROWN, Antiesha
6-13 1-3 13; VAUGHN, Deeva 3-8 5-8 11; MITCHELL, Brea 3-7 0-0 7; OWENS,
Bryce 2-6 0-0 6; CHAVEZ, Alexa 1-1 0-0 2; LAPEYROLERIE, Alex 1-4 0-0 2;
KELLER, Kianna 0-2 1-2 1; GREENWOOD, Josie 0-0 0-0 0; ALLEMAND, Brooke 0-3
0-0 0. Totals 29-68 14-25 76.
SAN JOSE STATE (8-13, 2-8 MW)
Cunnigan, Ta'Rea 8-22 5-6 23; James, Classye 4-7 4-10 14; Smith, Jasmine 4-7
4-4 12; Woodberry, Rebecca 3-5 2-2 10; Hall, Britta 2-5 3-3 7; TAUALA,
Jayzyl 2-7 1-2 5; Byrd, Riana 0-0 2-2 2; West, Rachol 0-1 0-0 0. Totals
23-54 21-29 73.
New Mexico.................... 42 34 - 76
San Jose State................ 36 37 - 73
3-point goals--New Mexico 4-19 (OWENS, Bryce 2-6; MITCHELL, Brea 1-3;
HALASZ, Sara 1-4; VAUGHN, Deeva 0-2; LAPEYROLERIE, Alex 0-1; ALLEMAND,
Brooke 0-3), San Jose State 6-19 (Woodberry, Rebecca 2-4; James, Classye
2-3; Cunnigan, Ta'Rea 2-6; Tauala, Jayzyl 0-5; Hall, Britta 0-1). Fouled
out--New Mexico-None, San Jose State-BYRD, Riana; Smith, Jasmine.
Rebounds--New Mexico 48 (VAUGHN, Deeva 10), San Jose State 34 (JAMES,
Classye 9). Assists--New Mexico 9 (OWENS, Bryce 5), San Jose State 6
(Cunnigan, Ta'Rea 3). Total fouls--New Mexico 21, San Jose State 22.
Technical fouls--New Mexico-None, San Jose State-None. A-136