Santa Clara, Calif. –San José State women's basketball sophomore Ayzhiana Basallo scored a season-high 29 points but it wasn't enough as the Spartans fell, 89-81, in a thriller at Santa Clara.
The Spartans (1-2) shot 39.0 percent from the floor and 31.0 percent from three.
Basallo has two 20-plus scoring games over her first three at SJSU. She had 11 over her 29 points in the fourth quarter on Tuesday. The sophomore was 8-of-15 shooting, including 4-of-8 from three, and was a perfect 9-of-9 at the free throw line. She dished out six assists.
Tyra Whitehead tallied her second double-double of the season with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Raziya Potter chipped in nine points as did Megan Anderson. Cydni Lewis had eight points and six boards.
The Spartans trailed by as much a 10 in the first quarter after a layup with 1:18 left. But Basallo knocked down a three to end the quarter and San José State was down 24-13.
SJSU staged a rally in the second quarter, with Basallo scoring eight points in the frame, to cut the halftime deficit to just one, 43-42. Potter had four points in the final 41 seconds of the second quarter, including a buzzer-beating three-pointer.
The Spartans knocked down just 4-of-18 shots in the third quarter but Santa Clara led by only five going to the fourth.
A wild fourth quarter saw the Spartans trim the Santa Clara lead to just four on a Whitehead and-one with 1:17 left in the game. Santa Clara answered with a bucket and a free throw but another and-one, this time by Basallo, once again cut the SCU lead to four with 39 seconds remaining. After a pair of Bronco free throws, Lewis scored to make it a four-point game again with 30 seconds left. But that would be as close as the Spartans would get as Santa Clara made free throws in the final seconds to ice the game.
The Spartans had just 13 turnovers in the game, compared to 18 by the Broncos. Santa Clara used a 53-33 edge on the glass to score 17 second chance points.
The Spartans stay on the road this week, visiting UC Santa Barbara at 7 PM on Friday.