Feb. 17, 2016
Reno, Nev. - The San Jose State women's basketball team used a 16-3 run over a nine minute stretch to end the third quarter and start the fourth to defeat the Nevada Wolf Pack 76-63 on Wednesday night. It is the Spartans fifth win in as many games and it's most since the 2004-05 team strung together six straight wins.
The victory, combined with a Boise State loss, means the Spartans and Broncos are tied for third place in the Mountain West standings with four games to play in the regular season. The top five teams in the league earn a first round bye in next month's Mountain West Basketball Tournament in Las Vegas.
San Jose State (11-14, 9-5 MW) trailed 50-48 with 5:54 to play in the third, when Emily Vann hit her third straight three-pointer to put the Spartans up by one. Vann made four threes on the night and finished with a career-high 12 points.
SJSU then scored eight of the final 11 points in the quarter to take a 59-53 lead into the final period. Ellie Stevens opened the fourth with a layup and three-pointer on successive possession and following a Nyre Harris trey with 7:50 to play, the Spartans had their biggest lead of the game 67-53 and cruised to victory 76-63.
In addition to Vann's 12 points, SJSU had three other players in double figures led by Harris' 19 points. She also led the team with five assists, had two steals and grabbed four rebounds. Stevens and Dezz Ramos each had 11 points. Myzhanique Ladd led the team with eight rebounds and chipped in nine points.
The Spartans shot 43.8 percent (28-of-64), their best shooting night since they hit 45.8 percent in the conference opener at Utah State. SJSU also connected on 11 three-pointers, Vann's four plus four from Harris and three from Stevens. It's the most the team has made since it hit 13 at Saint Mary's in the second game of the year.
The game also saw the return of Rachol West and Kalie Matthews, who had missed the last five and 13 games, respectively.
Nevada (4-20, 3-10 MW) had a decided height advantage. They used it to control the boards 56-to-45 and dominate on the offensive glass 32-to-14. UNR topped the Spartans 21-8 in second chance points, but despite that San Jose State out scored the Wolf Pack 26-18 in the paint.
The Spartans jumped out to a 16-7 lead in the first four minutes and it briefly looked like they would run Nevada out of the gym. The Spartans still led 23-16 with just over two minutes to go in the first, but Nevada cut the advantage to one point, 26-25 after 10 minutes.
SJSU held on to the lead until a pair of Nevada free throws tied it at 35-35 with 3:31 to go before the intermission and the Wolf Pack took a 42-39 lead to the locker rooms.
The Spartans retook the lead at 45-44 with 7:52 to play in the third and they trailed 50-48 with 5:54 left when they began their 16-3 run. In the second half , Nevada made just 6-of-42 shots, were 0-of-12 from beyond the arc and only stayed in the game by hitting 9-of-10 from the line.
San Jose State returns to action on Saturday at San Diego State. The Spartans and Aztecs tip off in Viejas Arena at 2:00 p.m.
San Jose State vs Nevada
2/17/16 6:30 pm at Reno, Nev. | Lawlor Events Center
At Reno, Nev. | Lawlor Events Center
SAN JOSE STATE 76, NEVADA 63
SAN JOSE STATE (11-14, 9-5 MW)
Harris, Nyre 7-13 1-2 19; Vann, Emily 4-8 0-0 12; Ramos, Dezz 2-7 7-10 11;
Stevens, Ellie 4-7 0-0 11; Ladd, Myzhanique 4-10 1-1 9; Smith, Jasmine 3-8
0-0 6; Byrd, Riana 3-3 0-0 6; Matthews, Kalie 1-3 0-0 2; West, Rachol 0-0
0-0 0; Baird, Paris 0-5 0-0 0; Kohlhaas, Andrea 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-64 9-13
76.
NEVADA (4-20, 3-10 MW)
SCHMID, Stephanie 4-18 3-4 14; CEPHAS, AJ 4-9 4-4 12; ZELLER, Teige 4-12 3-4
11; BERGMAN, Halie 3-11 1-2 8; LESURE, Nyasha 2-7 2-2 6; EVERIDGE, Riana
2-11 2-2 6; KAELIN, Kelsey 2-8 0-1 4; TOBEY, MorningRose 1-4 0-2 2; FAVRE,
Lea 0-0 0-0 0; KING, Camariah 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-81 15-21 63.
San Jose State................ 26 13 20 17 - 76
Nevada........................ 25 17 11 10 - 63
3-point goals--San Jose State 11-22 (Harris, Nyre 4-5; Vann, Emily 4-8;
Stevens, Ellie 3-4; Matthews, Kalie 0-1; Baird, Paris 0-1; Ladd, Myzhanique
0-2; Ramos, Dezz 0-1), Nevada 4-26 (SCHMID, Stephanie 3-14; BERGMAN, Halie
1-5; EVERIDGE, Riana 0-2; KAELIN, Kelsey 0-1; TOBEY, MorningRose 0-3; KING,
Camariah 0-1). Fouled out--San Jose State-None, Nevada-None. Rebounds--San
Jose State 45 (Ladd, Myzhanique 8), Nevada 56 (ZELLER, Teige 18).
Assists--San Jose State 18 (Harris, Nyre 5), Nevada 9 (KAELIN, Kelsey 4).
Total fouls--San Jose State 17, Nevada 15. Technical fouls--San Jose
State-None, Nevada-None. A-905