Jan. 30, 2016
Colorado Springs, Colo. - The San Jose State women's basketball team held the Air Force Falcons to four second-quarter points and cruised to a 72-49 victory on Saturday night in Clune Arena.
The four points are the fewest the Spartans have given up in a quarter this season, eclipsing the eight points Southern Oregon scored in the first quarter of the first game of the year.
San Jose State (7-14, 5-5 MW) trailed 15-12 after the first quarter. An Emily Vann three tied the game, but a pair of Cortney Porter free throws put Air Force (0-20, 0-9 MW) back in front 17-15 with 9:10 to go in the second. SJSU then held the Falcons scoreless for 5:48 while scoring 18-straight points.
It was a three-fest. Dezz Ramos, who finished with a game-high 22 points and dished out six assists, hit back-to-back treys followed by Andrea Kohlhaas and then Ellie Stevens. Including Vann's earlier three, the Spartan hit six in a row. Nyre Harris added a pair of free throws, Ramos scored on a layup and Harris capped the run with another layup. When the dust had cleared, the Spartans went from down by two points to up by 16, 33-17.
Air Force's only bucket of the period came with 3:22 to go before the break, after 11 straight misses. By the time the buzzer went off they had made just one of 18 shots (5.6 percent) and turned the ball over three times, and the Spartans led 35-19.
SJSU opened the third quarter struggling from the floor, going 1-for-9 in the first five minutes. But they were 7-for-7 from the free throw line and combined with the Falcons' continued shooting woes; San Jose State was up 45-29 with 4:42 to go in the period.
The Spartans closed the third quarter with a 15-0 run. Ramos and Harris, who finished with 11 points, four rebounds and four assists, each scored five points. Myzhanique Ladd hit a three-pointers and Riana Byrd scored a layup.
Ladd finished with the first double double of her college career scoring 13 points and grabbing a career-high 10 rebounds.
Byrd had 11 rebounds to go along with four points and a season-best five blocked shots. Her career-totals for rebounds and points are 970 and 987, respectively. Byrd is on the precipice of becoming the second player in SJSU history to score 1,000 points and grab 1,000 rebounds. When she does, she will join San Jose State Hall-of-Famer Elinor Banks in the elite club.
Leading 60-29 entering the fourth quarter, SJSU went up by a game-high 34 points with five minutes to go and then cruised the rest of the way to the 23-point victory. In doing so the San Jose State snapped a four-game losing streak.
The Spartans held the Falcons to 24 percent shooting (17-for-69) and blocked nine its shots. Both statistics are defensive bests for the year.
In addition, San Jose State out rebounded Air Force 52-to-44 including grabbing 38 defensive boards.
SJSU returns to action on Wednesday at Fresno State. Tip off in the SaveMart Center is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
San Jose State vs Air Force
01/30/16 6 pm at Clune Arena - USAF Academy, Colo.
At Clune Arena - USAF Academy, Colo.
SAN JOSE STATE 72, AIR FORCE 49
SAN JOSE STATE (7-14, 5-5 MW)
Ramos, Dezz 7-12 3-3 22; Ladd, Myzhanique 3-7 6-6 13; Harris, Nyre 3-11 5-6
11; Smith, Jasmine 4-9 0-0 8; Stevens, Ellie 2-7 0-0 6; Byrd, Riana 2-5 0-3
4; Vann, Emily 1-1 0-0 3; Kohlhaas, Andrea 1-3 0-0 3; Baird, Paris 1-8 0-0
- Totals 24-63 14-18 72.
AIR FORCE (0-20, 0-9 MW)
PORTER, Cortney 6-14 5-7 20; PARKER, Taylor 4-14 2-2 10; CLARKE, Rileymarie
2-8 2-2 6; TUCKER, Mikela 1-2 0-0 3; BORNGESSER, Maggie 1-4 0-2 2; BENNETT,
Dee 1-7 0-0 2; GRAHAM, Sydney 1-2 0-0 2; FALVEY, Sarah 1-3 0-0 2; FOTSCH,
Sarah 0-7 1-2 1; GLAAB, Darby 0-1 1-2 1; CANTU, Sarah 0-6 0-0 0; WALL,
Cheyenne 0-0 0-0 0; ITUGBU, Venessannah 0-0 0-0 0; JACKSON, Myah 0-1 0-0 0.
Totals 17-69 11-17 49.
San Jose State................ 12 23 25 12 - 72
Air Force..................... 15 4 10 20 - 49
3-point goals--San Jose State 10-25 (Ramos, Dezz 5-7; Stevens, Ellie 2-4;
Kohlhaas, Andrea 1-3; Ladd, Myzhanique 1-2; Vann, Emily 1-1; Baird, Paris
0-4; Harris, Nyre 0-4), Air Force 4-12 (PORTER, Cortney 3-6; TUCKER, Mikela
1-2; CANTU, Sarah 0-3; PARKER, Taylor 0-1). Fouled out--San Jose State-None,
Air Force-None. Rebounds--San Jose State 52 (Byrd, Riana 11), Air Force 44
(PARKER, Taylor 11). Assists--San Jose State 15 (Ramos, Dezz 6), Air Force
13 (PORTER, Cortney 3). Total fouls--San Jose State 19, Air Force 16.
Technical fouls--San Jose State-None, Air Force-None. A-427