Portland, Ore. – A poor shooting first half was the undoing for the San Jose State women's basketball team in an 80-51 loss at the Portland State Vikings on Sunday afternoon.
The game was close for the first three minutes and was tied 5-5 on a Mikaylah Wilson jumper with 7:02 to go in the quarter, but from there is was all Portland State. The Vikings finished the first 10 minutes on a 23-to-2 run and took a 28-7 lead into the second quarter.
"It was a slow start again. We've had a couple of those in the last two games and I've got to get that fixed," head coach Jamie Craighead said. "We played a better second half, but the effort wasn't there in the first 20 minutes. When we picked it up we did some better things. We had to go up against a lot of size and performed better in the second half when we settled down offensively and worked the ball against the zone."
The second period was more of the same. The Spartans (0-3) were held off the scoreboard for five minutes until a Raziya Potter layup with 5:09 to go in the half. SJSU's final bucket of the period came at the 3:21 mark on Wilson's second bucket. When the teams went to the locker room the score was 42-11 in favor of the Vikings. The four points in the second quarter equaled a program low, which was set two nights ago at San Francisco.
For the half, the Spartans shot just 15 percent (5-of-33), while PSU (2-0) was making 39 percent (18-of-46). The Vikings inside size was devastating to SJSU. They scored 22 points in the paint and were paced by 32 points from their front line which averages 6'-1" inside. San José State didn't help its own cause turning the ball over 13 times, which led to 14 points for PSU.
The second half was more the team's liking. The Spartans outscored Portland State 40-38, but the damage had been done. In the second 20 minutes, SJSU outshot PSU 39 percent (12-of-31) to 29 percent (9-of-31), outrebounded the Vikings 24-17, and forced 15 turnovers which led to 19 points.
Wilson led the team with 14 points. Megan Anderson added 10. Analyss Benally had five rebounds, a career-high, to pace the team and Fieme'a Hafoka made a career-best three 3-pointers.
Ashley Bolston paced the Vikings with 21 points. Courtney West had 12 points and 12 rebounds.
San José State is off until November 24 when it hosts CSU Bakersfield in The Event Center. Tip off between the Spartans and Roadrunners is set for 12:00 p.m., on Walt McPherson Court.
