San José, Calif. – Heading into Tuesday night's exhibition contest against Fresno Pacific, head coach Jamie Craighead was looking for a solid performance to build momentum heading into the start of the regular season.
It took a little bit, but she got it.
Behind a 25-point, 10-rebound outburst from Wake Forest transfer Tyra Whitehead, San José State emerged with a 102-97 victory over the visiting Sunbirds. The game marked the team's final contest before tipping off regular-season action next week.
"I think it was good for our team to have a game that was tight and close most of the time," said Craighead after the win. "It was all of the things you try to prepare for in practice but just can't do until your live and in a game situation. We had some good performances and really dominated the pace."
Senior Fieme'a Hafoka took control of the contest early, using the high-paced Spartans offense to get up eight shots in the first 20 minutes. She would end the first half with 14 points on three-of-three shooting from three-point range.
One of the team's strongest sequences of the evening came right out of the locker rooms, opening the third quarter with a quick 11-5 run. That's about the time when sophomore Ayzhiana Basallo began to heat up as the guard dropped nine points in 10 minutes.
Basallo would finish the night with 23 points and six assists in her first action with SJSU after transferring in from Cal Poly two yeas ago.
The Spartans' quick tempo and shot-making ability would eventually wear down the visitors from Fresno. They outscored their opponent 22-14 in the fourth quarter and went on a 16-5 burst to end regulation.
Whitehead was a force late, scoring seven points in the fourth quarter's final three minutes.
"It felt really, really good," Whitehead said when asked about the performance. "It had been over a year since I've played. To put in all of that extra work makes me feel extra good."
San José State would go on to pass the century mark en route to its victory. A Basallo steal and fast break layup got her team to 100, and it was Hafoka who iced the game on the free throw line with a pair of makes in the contest's final moments.
"Coach just harped on patience and trust in our defense and principles," said Whitehead on the second half turnaround. "We have worked hard on our defense for weeks. Eventually we got it going and it worked out for us in the end."
In all, four Spartans finished the night scoring in double figures as Hafoka tallied 20 points and point guard Danae Marquez came off the bench to add 17. SJSU dominated down low on Tuesday, scoring 62 points in the paint to Fresno Pacific's 28.
San José State will look to continue its winning ways as it travels to UC Irvine to lift the lid on the regular season. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday night in Irvine.