The San José State women's basketball team will highlight a blend of fresh faces and returners when it returns to action for exhibiton play on Tuesday, Octtober 29 against Fresno Pacific. Entering her seventh season at the helm in San José, head coach Jamie Craighead leads a balanced mix that will look to build on some momentum garnered from a strong finish to the 2018-19 season.
Four starters - Raziya Potter, Megan Anderson, Danae Marquez and Fieme'a Hafoka - are back from that team. In addition, Craighead welcomes six newcomers - three highly-touted transfers and a trio of strong freshmen - into the fray to bolster the team's depth and talent at varying positions on the floor.
"The players are all meshing really well," says Craighead. "We've gotten a lot better and I think this is going to be one of the most exciting basketball seasons we have ever experienced at San José State."
The group of transfers features a pair of six-footers in the form of Tyra Whitehead (Wake Forest) and Irene Chukwudi (Barton CC) while Ayzhiana Basallo (Cal Poly) joins the fray after winning the Big West Sixth Player of the Year award as a freshman in San Luis Obispo.
"We've had Ayzhiana here for a year now so we know what she brings and we expect her to be a catalyst for us this season," Craighead says. "Having an ACC player like Tyra in practice everyday, we're fortunate because you can't just get that kind of post player out of high school. Her and Irene are both very long and athletic and can make a big impact for us this season."
The Spartans also add guard/forward Kalina Obrey, a freshman coming off USA Today and Gatorade Player of the Year honors for the state of Hawaii earlier this year. She will be joined in her class by guard Shaila Mays and redshirt freshman Miyah Lewis-Hampton.
Mays finished her prep career as the third-highest scorer in program history at tradition-rich Pinnacle High School in Phoenix, while Lewis-Hampton has already spent one season with the team after being recognized as the city of San Francisco's top female prep player in 2018.
The group of newcomers will be joined by the aforementioned four returning starters and four additional letterwinners from a year ago. The bunch is led by Potter, now in her sophomore season in Silicon Valley after leading the team in scoring as a freshman. Potter averaged 9.0 points per game in her first season while stuffing the stat sheet with 62 assists, 27 steals and 13 blocks.
"I feel like I've always been the underdog," says Potter. "Now I just want to perform well for myself and my team and get us further than we did last year. Our goal is to do as well as we can in conference play to set us up for Vegas and then go there and win the conference tournament."
A strong core of returning reserves in the form of Cydni Lewis, Courtesy Clark, Alexis Harris and Analyss Benally will bolster the team's depth and talent on the 2019-20 campaign. Lewis is the team's top returning rebounder (4.6 per game a year ago) and also gave the team a steady hand on offense with 8.0 points per game. The Long Beach, Calif. product appeared in all 30 games as a sophomore last season.
SJSU is eager to get back on the floor after winning four of its final six regular season games last winter. The confidence gained during that stretch has flowed into the team's offseason workouts and preseason practices, where morale and emotions have been high.
"It gave us a chip and an edge," Marquez said when asked about the end to the 2018-19 season. "We have taken that energy and transferred it into our work throughout the summer and fall. We understand what it takes to win at this level and I think it's going to show on the court."
San José State will get its first chance to show it on the court come November 5, when it opens the year at UC Irvine. It will then return to the Provident Credit Union Event Center for its home opener on November 8 as Eastern Washington comes calling. The contest against the Eagles will mark the team's first counting game on the Event Center's brand-new court.
The Spartans will host five non-conference games at the Event Center, including a November 21 showdown with Buffalo. The Bulls posted a 24-10 mark last season en route to an appearance in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
An exciting non-conference slate will wind down in Maui, where the team will face BYU (26-7 a year ago) and Northern Arizona on December 18 and 19 in the Maui Jim Maui Classic.
Mountain West play gets underway with the program's earliest start since joining the conference, traveling to Logan, Utah to face Utah State on December 4. Its home conference opener will come three days later against San Diego State at the Event Center.
In addition to that tilt with the Aztecs, SJSU will host conference opponents Fresno State (1/4), UNLV (1/15), New Mexico (1/22), Boise State (1/29), Nevada (2/8), Air Force (2/15), Colorado State (2/22) and Utah State (2/24). The regular season will wind down in Las Vegas against the Lady Rebels on February 27 and the Mountain West Tournament will tip-off in Las Vegas three days later on March 1.
Single-game and season tickets for the 2019-20 San José State women's basketball team are on sale now at the Spartan Ticket Office. The office can be reached by phone at 408-924-7589 and online at SJSUSpartans.com/tickets.
Fans can find all of the latest updates and information on the Spartans by following the team on Twitter at @SanJoseStateWBB. The program is also on Instagram at @sjswbb.