San José, Calif. - Looking to bounce back from a tight loss at Santa Clara, San José State will visit UC Santa Barbara before returning home to host Sacramento State this weekend.
The Spartans were led by guard Ayzhiana Basallo in Tuesday's game against the Broncos as the sophomore tallied a career-high 29 points. Forward Tyra Whitehead impressed as well, recording her second double-double (21 points, 11 rebounds) in three games to start her SJSU career.
Both the Gauchos and Hornets will enter this weekend's contests with 1-1 records. UCSB is coming off a loss at Saint Mary's while Sacramento State topped Cal State Maritime on Wednesday night.
Friday's contest will be streamed on BigWest.TV with Gerry Fall and Louis Reynaud on the call, while Sunday's game will be back on the Mountain West Network with Daniel Barrera behind the mic. Fans can also follow the Spartans on social media all season long by following @SanJoseStateWBB on Twitter or @sjswbb on Instagram.
STORYLINES
UNDERSTANDING UC SANTA BARBARA
Friday's meeting will serve as the third game of the season for UC Santa Barbara. Coming off an 8-22 season a year ago, the Gauchos tipped off the 2019-20 campaign with a 59-51 victory over Utah Valley. They then took to the road and only trailed Saint Mary's by four at halftime before falling in a 64-43 defeat. The team finished in eighth place in the Big West last season and was ninth in scoring with a clip of 51 points per game.
Point guard Danae Miller has impressed early on for UCSB, leading the team with an average of 15.5 points per game. It's freshman Ila Lane who has got the job done on the glass, pulling down an average of 8.5 rebounds per game.
Friday's meeting tips off a two-game homestand at the UC Santa Barbara Events Center, a stretch that will be rounded out on Monday against USC.
SCOUTING SACRAMENTO STATE
San José State will have a quick turnaround between games as it meets Sacramento State at the Provident Credit Union Event Center on Sunday for a 2:00 p.m. tip-off. The Hornets have played just two games, entering Sunday with a 1-1 record after falling at Nevada and defeating Cal State Maritime.
They are led offensively by do-everything guard Gabi Blade. Blade enters the weekend averaging 20.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. Blade's running mate in the backcourt, Camariah King, is distributing the ball at a team-high clip of 4.0 assists per game.
SJSU VS. THE BIG WEST
Overall, San José State is 43-158 against the current make up of schools in the Big West. The last time the Spartans beat a Big West opponent was in the 2016-17 season, defeating Hawaii 77-61 in Honolulu. The program will return to the Islands next month for the first time since that victory, playing two games in Lahaina at the Maui Jim Maui Classic. SJSU is a former member of the Big West, playing in the conference from 1986-1996. Current Spartan sophomore Ayzhiana Basallo was named the Big West Sixth Player of the Year while playing at Cal Poly as a freshman.
SJSU VS. THE BIG SKY
San José State is 41-50 against the current make up of schools in the Big Sky. The Spartans earned their latest victory last week, running away with an 84-66 win over Eastern Washington. The team will face one more Big Sky opponent this year, meeting Northern Arizona 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 three games in a Spartan uniform. Whitehead tops the team in rebounds with an average of 9.7 per game while Basallo is leading the club in points at a 21.3 clip.
Whitehead has tallied a team-high two double-doubles on the year, the most recent coming at Santa Clara on Tuesday (21 points, 11 rebounds).
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.
HOMECOMING
Friday's contest will serve as a homecoming of sorts for Carolyn Ruffino, San José State's Director of Operations for Women's Basketball. Ruffino served as the head student manager for the UC Santa Barbara women's basketball program in addition to other managerial roles with the men's basketball team. Her work with the men's program helped lay the ground work for the Gauchos' 17-win turnaround from the 2017 to 2018 campaign.
A FAMILIAR BUZZ
Before taking over at the helm in San José, head coach Jamie Craighead served in the same position with the Hornets program. Craighead was the winningest head women's basketball coach in 20 years at Sacramento State and was the youngest Division I coach in the country when she was hired to the role.
In addition to the Craighead ties, Spartan associate head coach Alle Moreno hails from Sacramento State. Moreno played for Craighead and graduated in 2014.
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.
COACH AND PLAYER INTERVIEWS
All interview requests for coaches and players should be made through the SJSU Athletics Media Relations Office.
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
For any information concerning Mountain West basketball, contact Melissa Katz, Assistant Director of Strategic Communications. Mountain West information is also available online at www.themw.com.