March 5, 2014
San Jose, Calif. - The San Jose State women's basketball team plays its final regular season game at Fresno State, a team they defeated 68-66 in February, before heading off next week to the Reese's Mountain West Championship Tournament in Las Vegas, Nev.
GAME 29
at Fresno State (18-10, 12-5 MW)
Friday, March 7, 7:00 p.m.
Save Mart Center, Fresno, Calif.
Streaming video is available on the Spartan Digital Network at www.sjsuspartans.com/video
Live stats available at www.sjsuspartans.com
Radio broadcast on 90.5 KSJS-FM
LIVE STATS
Fans can view live stats of all San José State women's basketball games, home and away, by accessing the "Gametracker" feature at www.sjsuspartans.com. Click on the link on the women's basketball schedule page to follow the action.
VIDEO STREAMING
Spartan Digital is your all-access passport to Spartan Athletics. For live and recorded video/audio of San José State women's basketball home, Mountain West (road and home) and select road contests, Spartan Digital is your home. Go to Spartan Digital at top of the Spartans Athletics home page or go to www.sjsuspartans.com/video.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Keep up with all 16 of San José State's team through social media sites Twitter and Facebook. For Twitter go to @sjsuathletics and on Facebook become friends with Sammy Spartan.
The women's basketball Twitter handle is @sjswbb and Facebook page is /SanJoseStateWBB.
RADIO COVERAGE
KSJS-FM (90.5 FM, San Jose) originates San José State women's basketball home broadcasts and select road contests.
SPARTANS FINISH HOME SCHEDULE WITH STYLE...AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN
For the third time in as may years, San José State wrapped the home portion of its schedule with a big win. In 2011-12, they defeated Fresno State, the Bulldogs only conference loss that season, to end a 20-game losing streak against Fresno.
Then in the last home game of 2012-13, the Spartans took care of Louisiana Tech for the first time in their 23-game history.
On Tuesday, San José State earned a 65-64 win over Colorado State, the regular season champs of the Mountain West.
BYRD DOMINATES COLORADO STATE ON THE GLASS
Riana Byrd (So., C, Richmond, Calif.) was an unstoppable force on the glass against Colorado State (3/4). She grabbed 20 rebounds, the most in Mountain West Conference play this season. She equaled Lora Alexander for second most for a Spartan in a single game. Alexander had her 20 boards against UCSB on February 23, 1989.
Rhoda Chew holds the San Jose State record for rebounds in a game. On two separate occasions she grabbed 21 in a game.
SINGLE-SEASON SCORING MARK IN JEOPARDY
The San José State women's basketball single-season record for points, 2,301, was set in 1979-80. The 2013-14 Spartans have that record in sight. The MW's second most prolific scoring team per game (76.9/g) has scored 2,153 so far this season. San José State has a minimum of two more games to play and if they continue their per game scoring average the will set a new scoring record with 2,307.
FREE THROW MARKS ARE LOOKING OVER THEIR SHOULDERS AS WELL
The Spartan records for free throws in a season, 487 in 2012-13 could fall this year. San José State has made 461 so far, an average of 16.5 makes per game. With a minimum of two game to go and assuming they continue to make 16+ a game, they would after 30 games, have 494 free throws made...a new record.
NEW TEAM FREE THROW ATTEMPTS RECORD SET
With 13 free throw attempts against Colorado State (3/4) the 2013-14 Spartans set a new single-season team record. They passed the previous record, 678 in 2012-13. They have attempted 682 so far this year. The Spartans have averaged going to the line 24.4 times per game. With at least two more games to play they could finish the season with 731 attempts for the year.
WOODBERRY OWNS SPARTANS SINGLE-SEASON 3-POINT RECORDS
Rebecca Woodberry's (Jr., G, Phoenix, Ariz.) 82 3-pointers are the most by any women's basketball player in a single season in San José State history. Woodberry past Kari Steele's single-season record (74 in 1996-97) with her second trey vs. NEV (2/19). She leads the MW in 3-pointers (3.0/g) and ranks 14th in the nation.
With Woodberry's 14 3-point attempts against San Diego State she moved in to first place on the programs' single-season list. She has attempted 233 this season.
WOODBERRY OWNS ONE AND CLOSING IN ON ANOATHER MW 3-POINT RECORD
With 132 3-point attempts in conference play, Rebecca Woodberry (Jr., G, Phoenix, Ariz.) holds the single-season MW record for a junior. At her current place of 7.8 attempts per game, she would finish the regular season with 140 3-point attempts and set a new Mountain West record.
CUNNIGAN FOURTH ON ALL-TIME SCORING LIST
Ta'Rea Cunnigan (Jr., G, Winchester, Calif.) has scored 1,464 career points and is in 4th place on the Spartans career-scoring list. On a layup with 1:49 to play in the first half at Air Force (2/12), she moved ahead Hulett Brooks (1990, 92-94 1,373 pts.) for the fourth spot on the list. On her first bucket against NEV (2/19), she become just fourth player in the Spartans' 38-year history to reach the 1,400-point plateau.
Cunnigan was the 13th player to reach the 1,000-point plateau in the game against UC Riverside (11/15). She accomplished the feat in 63 games, the second fastest in program history.
THREES ARE THE NAME OF THE GAME
With 740 3-point attempts and 228 makes, the 2013-14 Spartans have shattered the program's previous marks in each category. San José State sank 146 3-pointers in the 27 games of the 1999-00 season. This year's team equaled that number in just 20 games (at UNLV 1/29). In addition, they passed the previous record for attempts in a season (493 in 29 games in 2000-01) in that same game.
At their current pace (26.4 attempts per game overall & 26.6 per MW game) the Spartans are projected to attempt 793 3-pointers for the year and 506 in Mountain West games. Both would set conference records. Fresno State holds the single-season and conference season records; 737 overall and the Spartans 452 3-point attempts in conference games are already a conference record.
THREE DOUBLE DOUBLES AT AIR FORCE
Riana Byrd (So., C, Richmond, Calif.), Rebecca Woodberry's (Jr., G, Phoenix, Ariz.) and Jasmine Smith (Fr., F, Burbank, Calif.) each grabbed 10 rebounds at Air Force (2/12) and scored 14, 15 and 12 points, respectively. It is the first time this season, and in available records, that three Spartans had double doubles in the same game.
WOODBERRY NEARLY AUTOMATIC AT THE LINE
Rebecca Woodberry (Jr., G, Phoenix, Ariz.) is shooting .947 for the season and leads the Mountain West. She is 54-for-57 this year and from November 17, 2013 to March 4, 2014, a span of 25 games, made 52 in a row.
She sank her first 33 conference FT attempts, before missing a pair at the end of the Colorado State game (3/4), but continues to be the leading free throw shooter in conference play at .943.
BYRD TOP IN CONFERENCE IN REBOUNDING
Riana Byrd (So., C, Richmond, Calif.) leads the MW (9.6/g) in rebounding and ranks 66th in the nation. Byrd ranks 1st in offensive (3.6) and 2nd in defensive (6.1) rebounds in the conference and her 13 double-digit rebounding efforts lead the league.
SPARTANS ALREADY SETTING MW RECORDS
When the Spartans launched 42 3-pointers at San Diego State (1/25), they set a San José State single game and a Mountain West Conference record. They broke the program's previous record of 36, which was set against USF (11/20/14) and the previous MW record of 41 set by Wyoming at Colorado State (1/28/05).
TEAM SCORING CONTINUES TO GO UP - THREE PLAYERS IN THE TOP-15
Averaging 76.9 points per game, the Spartans are the leading scoring team in the Mountain West Conference and rank 27th in the nation. Just three years ago, the team was averaging 47.7 points. They have increased scoring by nearly 30.0 points per game.
San José State has three players among the top-20 scorers in the league, tied for the most of any team. Ta'Rea Cunnigan (Jr., G, Winchester, Calif.) ranks 2nd (18.6/g). Rebecca Woodberry (Jr., G, Phoenix, Ariz.) is 7th (14.1/g) and Classye James (Jr., G, East Palo Alto, Calif.) is 17th (11.8/g).
SPARTANS AMONG TOP MW GLASS CLEANERS
At 43.4 rebounds per game, the Spartans are the 2nd-ranked rebounding team in the Mountain West and have three of the top four rebounders in the league.
Riana Byrd (So., C, Richmond, Calif.) is tops in the league at 9.6 boards. Jasmine Smith (Fr., F, Burbank, Calif.) is third at 7.9 rebounds and Rebecca Woodberry (Jr., G, Phoenix, Ariz.) checks in in fourth at 7.3 rebounds.
CUNNIGAN IN TOP-10 OF SEVEN MORE CAREER CATEGORIES
The fifth-leading scorer in program history, Ta'Rea Cunnigan (Jr., G, Winchester, Calif.) is also in the top-10 of seven other San José State career categories.
She ranks 2nd in both free throws (417) and free throw attempts (568), trailing only Cricket Williams (2001-04) in both categories. Cunnigan is 49 free throws and 164 free throw attempts from tying Williams in each category.
She ranks 5th in career free throw percentage (.734) and 6th in career steals (199). She is five steals from tying Spartan Hall of Famer Karen Mason (1978-81) for fifth place on the program's all-time steals list.
In San José State history, Cunnigan ranks 7th in 3-point attempts (327) and 6th in makes (103).
Lastly she checks in in 8th place for field goals made (472) and in attempts (1,219).
BYRD IN CAREER RECORD BOOK AS WELL
Riana Byrd (So., C, Richmond, Calif.), who blocked 64 shots in her freshman campaign and has 40 more this season, is already in fourth place in the program's career blocks list. She is 34 blocks from tying Lamisha Augustine (2002-06) for third place all-time. With 16 points against Wyoming (1/18), Byrd reached the 500-point scoring plateau for her career.
WOODBERRY IS LOOKING LONG
Rebecca Woodberry (Jr., G, Phoenix, Ariz.), who transferred from Nebraska, has found her stroke from long range. She is 14th in the nation in 3-pointers made per game (3.12) and leads all Mountain West shooters. Her 82 3-pointers are six more, and her 233 3-point attempts are more than 40 more than her next closest conference rival.
Woodberry holds the San José State 3-point attempts and makes single-season record.
In addition, Woodberry is already in 9th place in the San José State career list for 3-pointers. She is 14 3-pointer from tying Sara Plavljanin's (2011-12) 96 makes for eighth place on the list.
SEEING DOUBLE
With eight double doubles, Jasmine Smith (Fr., F, Burbank, Calif.) ranks second the Mountain West. She along with Riana Byrd (So., C, Richmond, Calif.) and Rebecca Woodberry (Jr., G, Phoenix, Ariz.) have combined for 18 double doubles which also lead the league.
SMITH AMONG THE TOP OF THE MW AND THE BEST FRESHMAN
Jasmine Smith (Fr., F, Burbank, Calif.) is just a freshman, but ranks in the top-10 of four categories in the Mountain West Conference. She is 2nd in offensive rebounds (3.4/g), third in total rebounds (7.9/g), 8th in defensive rebounds (4.5/g) and 6th in field goal percentage (.475).
She is the highest ranked freshman in three of those categories (rebounds, offensive rebounds and FG%) and second in the other two (defensive rebounds). She is achieving these numbers while coming off the bench in 22 of the Spartans 28 games this year.
BYRD KEEPS IT GOING
Last year Riana Byrd (So., C, Richmond, Calif.) was the first Spartan to average a double double, 11.4 pts. and 10.9 rebs., in 23 years.
In 2013-14 Byrd is nearly there again. She is averaging 8.8 points and 9.6 rebounds, but is doing it in more than five minutes less per game (28.5-to-23.2).
STILL ONE OF THE YOUNGEST TEAMS
San José State was the youngest team in Division I last year with just four years of collegiate experience on the roster (two years of Division I and two years of junior college). With injuries, which have sidelined several players, the Spartans are nearly right back to where they were last year. Ta'Rea Cunnigan (Jr., G, Winchester, Calif.), Classye James (Jr., G, East Palo Alto, Calif.) and Rebecca Woodberry (Jr., G, Phoenix, Ariz.) each have two years of collegiate experience. Riana Byrd (So., C, Richmond, Calif.) and Jayzyl Tauala (So., G, Pacifica, Calif.) have one year each of college experience.
SCOUTING FRESNO STATE
The Bulldogs are 18-10 overall, 12-5 in the Mountain West. They have won the regular-season championship and have the #1 seed in next weeks MW Championship Tournament.
Fresno State defeated UNLV 84-64 in their lone game last week. The Bulldogs are 11-4 overall and 7-1 in conference games at home this season.
Taylor Thompson, a senior guard, leads the team in scoring (13.7 pts) with junior forward Alex Sheedy and senior guard Bree Farley also in double figures at 12.6 and 12.5, respectively. Thompson also leads the team in assist (4.3/g) and steals (2.2/g). Jacinta Vandenberg, a sophomore center, is the leading rebounder at 6.7/g.
Head coach Raegan Pebley is in her second season leading the Fresno State program. She brought a 134-164 career-record into this year.
This will be the 70th meeting between these programs. The Spartans trail by a large margin in the all-time series 19-to-50. The Spartans have won the last two meetings, including the regular season finale in the 2011-12 season, which snapped a 20-game losing streak to the Bulldogs as well as the meeting earlier this season. Both of those games were played in The Event Center. Overall, San José State is just 8-24 in games contested in Fresno and has lost 10 straight dating back to the 2001-02 season.