San José, Calif. - After tallying its first win of the season on Friday against Eastern Washington, San José State is set to return to the floor on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. at rival Santa Clara.
The Spartans were led by point guard Danae Marquez in their 84-66 victory over the Eagles as the junior dropped 20 points on her 20th birthday in the win. The team now embarks on a quick two-game road trip, taking on the Broncos before heading to UC Santa Barbara on Friday.
The meeting between SJSU and Santa Clara will be the 50th all-time between the two programs. The Broncos emerged victorious in last year's matchup, earning a tight 62-56 victory.
This year's Santa Clara team enters the week with a record of 1-1 after suffering a 65-52 defeat at Arizona in its last contest. Forward Merle Wiehl has impressed early after transferring in from Western Nebraska CC, leading the team with an average of 16.5 points per game. It's forward Ashlyn Herlihy who has got the job done on the glass, averaging 5.5 rebounds per game for Santa Clara.
San José State will be looking to improve its record to above .500 for the first time since 2015.
Tuesday's contest will be streamed on the WCC Network with Joe Ritzo on the call. Fans can also follow the Spartans on social media all season long by following @SanJoseStateWBB on Twitter or @sjswbb on Instagram.
STORYLINES
SCOUTING SANTA CLARA
Tuesday's meeting will also serve as the third game of the season for Santa Clara. Coming off a 14-17 season a year ago, the Broncos tipped off the 2019-20 campaign with a 109-51 victory over UC Santa Cruz. They then took to the road, competing well at Arizona before ultimately falling in a 13-point defeat. The team finished in seventh place in the WCC last season and was ninth in scoring with a clip of 64.1 points per game.
Forward Merle Wiehl has impressed early after transferring in from Western Nebraska CC, leading the team with an average of 16.5 points per game. It's forward Ashlyn Herlihy who has got the job done on the glass, averaging 5.5 rebounds per game for Santa Clara.
Head coach Bill Carr is now in his fourth season leading the Broncos program. Carr arrived in Santa Clara from Point Loma, where he served as the head men's basketball coach for five seasons with the Sea Lions.
Tuesday's meeting will mark the team's last game at the Leavey Center before it embarks on a trip for four consecutive contests away from home.
SJSU VS. THE WCC
Overall, San José State is 67-111 against the current make up of schools in the WCC. The last time the Spartans beat a WCC opponent was against this same Santa Clara program, topping the Broncos for a 71-66 overtime victory at the Leavey Center on Nov. 28, 2017. Just a freshman at the time, current Spartan Cydni Lewis led her team with 14 points off the bench in that win.
San José State will face two more WCC opponents this year, meeting San Diego in the Provident Credit Union Event Center on Nov. 23 and BYU in Lahaina on Dec. 18.
NOT BAD FOR STARTERS
San José State transfers Tyra Whitehead and Ayzhiana Basallo have each impressed and then some in their first two games in a Spartan uniform. Whitehead tops the team in rebounds with an average of 9.0 game while Basallo is leading the club in points at a 17.5 clip.
Whitehead made quite the debut for SJSU, dropping a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds in Tuesday's season opener at UC Irvine.
THREE'S COMPANY
San José State finished Friday's victory against Eastern Washington shooting 61 percent from three-point range (14-of-23). The mark set a single-game record for three-point percentage in the Jamie Craighead era at SJSU.
Point guard Danae Marquez (6-of-7) and senior Fieme'a Hafoka (3-of-4) were the team's top callers from long distance in the victory.
THREE'S COMPANY, TWO
The 2019-20 roster features a pair of Spartans that are all over the program's record books throughout the three-point categories. Senior Analyss Benally entered the season ranked No. 9 for made three-pointers with 118 throughout her three seasons in a Spartan uniform. Guard Megan Anderson, now a junior at San José State, entered the year at the top of the program's list for three-point field goal percentage with a .408 clip. Her .438 clip as a freshman in the 2017-18 season was a single-season record for the program.
20 on 22's 20th
Point guard Danae Marquez celebrated her 20th birthday in fine fashion on Friday night, dropping 20 points to lead all scorers en route to her team's 84-66 victory over Eastern Washington. Not just a scoring threat, Marquez peppered the stat-sheet with three assists and one steal in the win.
RUNNING AWAY WITH THE HOME OPENER
The 18-point win in Friday's home opener marked the program's largest margin of victory in a game against a non-league opponent since Dec. 20, 2015 (79-58 against UC Irvine).
It was the biggest win in a game of any kind since March 6, 2017 (79-58 vs. San Diego State).
NEW NAME, SAME PLACE
The Spartans' on-campus arena now has a new name. Provident Credit Union has signed on as the arena's naming rights partner to make it the Provident Credit Union Event Center. The president and CEO of Provident Credit Union is San José State grad Jim Ernest.
SPARTANS START SEASON WITH EXHIBITION WIN OVER FRESNO PACIFIC
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 at UC Irvine.
In all, four Spartans finished the night scoring in double figures.
INCOMING
The Spartans have a pair of Division I transfers that will be eligible to play this season. Forward Tyra Whitehead arrives in Silicon Valley from Wake Forest and will have two years of eligibility to play while at SJSU. She is joined by guard Ayzhiana Basallo, arriving from Cal Poly after winning the Big West Sixth Player of the Year award as a freshman. Basallo has three seasons of eligibility remaining.
MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE MEDIA INFORMATION
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