Dec. 8, 2016
San Jose, Calif. - In the second game of a three game road trip, the San Jose State women's basketball team will be in Lincoln, Neb., on Friday evening to play the Nebraska Cornhuskers for the first time in program history. The game will be the ninth time in ten games that SJSU will play a team, which competed in last year's postseason. Nebraska played in the 2016 WNIT.
San José State Spartans (2-7)
at
Nebraska Cornhuskers (3-6)
Friday, December 9, 2016 - 7:00 p.m. (CT)
Lincoln, Neb., (Pinnacle Bank Arena - 14,970)
SPARTANS SET THREE-POINT ATTEMPTS RECORD AGAINST SAINT MARY'S
The Spartans are no strangers to shooting three-point shots and on Saturday afternoon they set a program record for hoisting them up from beyond the arc. San Jose State attempted 43 three-pointers, which eclipsed the previous record of 42 which the team set at San Diego State (1/22/14). The mark also eclipsed the most treys SJSU had attempted in a game in the Event Center (38 vs. San Diego State - 2/26/14) and matched the all-time Event Center mark set by Fresno State (2/25/12).
STICKY FINGERS
Against Saint Mary's SJSU picked the pockets of Gaels 12 times, a season-best. It marked the fourth time in eight games the Spartans reached double digits in steals. For the year the team has 65 steals, an average of 7.8 per game, which ranks fifth in the Mountain West. Paris Baird (Sr., F, Van Nuys, Calif) leads the team and is ranked third in the Mountain West averaging 2.3 steals. Myzhanique Ladd (Jr., G, Seattle, Wash.) ranks eighth in the conference at 1.9 steals per game.
STEPPING UP
It's early in the season, but so far three Spartans have upped their games. Andrea Kohlhaas (So., G, Besigheim, Germany), through eight games, has already established career-highs in field goals, free throws, assists, steals and points. Paris Baird (Sr., F, Van Nuys, Calif) has nearly doubled her output per game in field goals and rebounds and Rachol West (Sr., G, Bakersfield, Calif.) has more than doubled her numbers from last year in points and rebounds.
SMITH CLOSING IN ON 1,000 CAREER POINTS
With nine points against Santa Clara, Jasmine Smith (Sr., F, Burbank, Calif.) passed 900 points for her career, currently sits at 949 and has 1,000-career points clearly in her sight. If she reaches the milestone, she will be the 16th player in program history to do so and the third player in as many classes to finish her career with more than 1,000 points. In 2015, Ta'Rea Cunnigan completed her Spartans career with 2, 062 career points, which is the school record. Riana Byrd, graduated in 2016 with 1,034 points.
IN HAWAI'I, RAMOS ADDS TO HER HARDWARE
Having already been named to the Mountain West Preseason All-Conference Team and then two weeks ago being name the Mountain West Player of the Week, Dezz Ramos (Sr., PG, West Valley, Utah) added to her accomplishments in earning All-Tournament Team honors at last week's Rainbow Wahine Showdown in Honolulu, Hawai'i. Ramos averaged 11.4 points, 3.7 assists and 1.7 steals in three games in which the Spartans went 1-2.
15 THREE-POINTERS SETS SJSU RECORD IN THE EVENT CENTER
With its 15 three-pointers, against The University of the Pacific (11/18), the Spartans established a new record for the program in a game in The Event Center. The previous record was 14 threes which was set against Georgia State (12/18/13) and equaled against Utah State (2/27/16). Fifteen treys ties The Event Center record for a women's team which the Spartans now share with Southern Utah (12/8/12) and Boise State (1/25/14).
CRAIGHEAD EIGHT WINS FROM 100 FOR HER CAREER
With eight more victories, Spartans head coach Jamie Craighead will reach the 100-win career plateau. With that win she will tie Karen Smith (1993-99) with 49 victories and will rank third in the program all-time wins list. The late Janice Richard (1999-2006) ranks second with 93 wins and Sharon Chatman (1977-86), with 143 victories, is the all-time leader in wins and is the only coach in SJSU women's basketball with a winning record (143-121/.542).
WHEN DOES IT GET ANY EASIER...ONE TOUGH PRESEASON SCHEDULE...AGAIN
For the second year in a row, San José State has a whopper of a preseason slate. This year, ten of the 12 non-conference opponents played in the postseason in 2016, including five that competed in the NCAA Tournament (New Mexico State, Arizona State, Hawai'i, Mississippi State and San Francisco). The other five (Santa Clara, Oregon, Saint Mary's, Nebraska and South Dakota) participated in the Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) with South Dakota winning the WNIT Championship.
Combined, the Spartans preseason opponents posted a 272-118 (.697) record last year and went 13-9 (.590) in postseason tournament action. Three won conference titles - New Mexico State (WAC), Hawai'i (Big West) and San Francisco (WCC) - and, as mentioned before,South Dakota won the WNIT Championship.