Nov. 3, 2017
San Jose, Calif. - The San José State women's basketball team makes its 2017-18 debut on Walt McPherson Court in an exhibition game against the Stanislaus State Warriors on Sunday, November 5 at 2:00 p.m. in The Event Center.
Fifth-year head coach Jamie Craighead leads a program that is one of the youngest in the nation, with 12 of its 15 players being freshmen or sophomores. The squad is comprised of seven returning letter winners and eight freshmen.
After a run to the quarterfinals of the 2017 Mountain West Women's Basketball Tournament, San José State will have to retool and replace four senior starters Dezz Ramos, Jasmine Smith, Paris Baird and Rachol West and nearly 70 percent of its scoring.
Two of the four, Ramos and Smith, scored 1,000-points in their SJSU careers. Last year Ramos set the program's single season scoring mark with 752 points, was the fourth leading scorer in the nation and an All-Mountain West performer. Smith averaged nearly a double double and was the fourth leading rebounder in the conference.
The team will lean on its lone starter from last year, senior guard Myzhanique Ladd, who returns as its leading scorer and rebounder. The only other upperclassmen on the team are a pair of forwards, senior Hallie Gennett and junior Andrea Kohlhaas.
Point guard Taylor Turney, guards Fieme'a Hafoka and Analyss Benally and center Alexis Harris look to build on solid freshman seasons and become larger contributors in 2017-18.
Among the new faces are point guard Danae Marquez and Megan Anderson and Heleyna Hill. Marquez and Anderson's Clovis West High School team won the 2017 CIF Championship and finished last season as the consensus number one team in the nation according to ESPN, MaxPreps and the Army National Guard. In the championship game they defeated Hill's Archbishop Mitty squad, who finished the year as the second ranked team in the nation.
Courtesy Clark, a guard out of McClatchy High School in Sacramento led her team to the CIF NorCal Division I championship and was honored as the Sacramento Bee All-Metro Player of the Year.
The Spartans also welcome a trio of frontcourt players Mikaylah Wilson, Cydni Lewis, Chinwe Ezeonu. Wilson was named the Inland Daily Bulletin All-Area Player of the Year and San Bernardino Sun All-Area Player of the Year in leading her Etiwanda High School to four consecutive Baseline League titles. Lewis comes from perennial powerhouse Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, Calif. Last year her team won the CIF Division II Southern Section championship and she earned All-Trinity league honors. Ezeonu averaged a double double for her career and led her team to the quarterfinals of the Washington state 3A Division championship.
Following the matchup with Stanislaus State, the regular season kicks off on Friday, November 10, with a 7:00 p.m. game at #7 UCLA. SJSU's home opener is November 17 at 7:00 p.m. in The Event Center against the CSU Bakersfield.
Season and individual game tickets are on sale now. For ticket information call the Spartan Ticket Office at 408-924-7589 or go to www.sjsuspartans.com.