March 6, 2017
Las Vegas, Nev. --- We all know the phrase "Steph gonna Steph." Well when it comes to San José State women's basketball it's "Dezz gonna Dezz."
The Mountain West's leading scorer Dezz Ramos poured in 34 points leading the #8-Spartans to a 76-58 victory over #9-San Diego State in the opening round of the Mountain West Championship Tournament inside the Thomas & Mack Center.
Ramos had 12 points in the second quarter and 13 in the fourth. She finished the game 12-of-25 from the field and hit five 3-pointers. She gave the Spartans their largest lead of 27 at the 3:44 mark in the fourth quarter with a layup. It was Ramos' ninth 30-point game of the year and has scored at least 20 in the last nine contests.
While Ramos was scoring from everywhere, Jasmine Smith was taking advantage of her matchup in the post. She was the other double-figure scorer for the Spartans with 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for her 10th double-double of the year.
Rachol West was sizzling in the first quarter hitting three in a row from beyond the arc and fellow seniors Ramos, Paris Baird and Jasmine Smith all made shots helping the Spartans (11-20) jump out to a 19-4 lead.
Meanwhile the Aztecs (11-19) hit just one shot in the first 6:23 of the quarter. West's second three of the period put SJSU up 16-2 and less than a minute later hit another one making it 19-4 with 3:20 left in the period.
San José State led by double-digits for the majority of the game. The Aztecs brought it to within five, 39-34, on Geena Gomez's 3-pointer. But the Spartans took it right back to an 11-point lead with Myzhanique Ladd's traditional 3-point play, Smith's layup and a swish from downtown by Andrea Kohlhaas.
McKynzie Fort scored 19 points to lead the Aztecs. Gomez with 13 points and Baylee Vanderdoes with 10 points were the other double-figure scorers for SDSU.
San José State will now take on #1-Colorado State tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. (PT) in the second round of the Mountain West Tournament. You can watch the game on the Mountain West Network or listen to the game on KLIV 1590 AM.