Logan, Utah - San José State stepped into conference play on Wednesday and promptly stepped out with a victory, turning in its best defensive performance of the season en route to the road win.
A dominant start to the game and a strong finish paved the way to the 76-61 victory over Utah State, placing the first-place Spartans (6-3, 1-0 MW) at the top of the Mountain West standings in the process.
Led by 20 points for sophomore Ayzhiana Basallo, SJSU tallied the contest's first 14 points and never looked back in the wire-to-wire result. The victory marks the program's fifth win in its last six conference openers.
Assisting Basallo to the win were guards Megan Anderson and Raziya Potter, both of which finished the night scoring in double figures. Anderson finished with 15 points on four makes from three-point range while Potter added 13 points and three assists.
"Before the game I was just thinking it's time for me to start contributing more for both myself and my teammates," said Potter after the victory. "It felt like the game just came to me and I took what I could when it was there."
Upperclassmen Tyra Whitehead and Fieme'a Hafoka also impressed on Wednesday, leading the team on the glass as the pair pulled down eight rebounds a piece.
Solid play on both ends of the floor allowed SJSU to jump out to that early 14-0 advantage. The defense forced six Aggie (3-5, 0-1 MW) turnovers in the first five minutes of the game while seven different Spartans scored on offense in the first quarter.
Basallo. Reservations for three. #SCtop10 pic.twitter.com/QjYNDz0TSO
— San José State Women's Basketball (@SanJoseStateWBB) December 5, 2019
The visitors from San José held a 19-8 lead at the end of that opening stanza, an advantage that would be stretched to 33-21 at the halftime break. The 21 first half points marks the lowest for a San José State opponent this season and the fewest allowed by the Spartans in a road game since January 30, 2016 (19 at Air Force).
"We started with a lot of energy," Potter said. "Everyone was able to contribute both defensively and offensively. Whenever we have moments like that it helps push us for the whole game."
Utah State was able to pull within six in the second half but it was the conference's leading scorer who was able to put the game on ice. Basallo tallied seven points in the contest's final nine minutes and Anderson buried her final triple with three minutes remaining to push the lead back to double digits for good.
SJSU did not surrender another field goal after the 4:45 mark, putting a bow on its best defensive showing this year. The final score was 76-61, marking the team's fifth win its last six games.
The 15-point victory is the program's second straight win over Utah State and its sixth in the last nine meetings between the two teams. The Spartans now have two road victories on the 2019-20 campaign, the quickest the program has reached multiple road wins since the 2004-05 team won three in its first seven games (at UC Irvine, at San Francisco, at New Mexico State).
San José State will look to continue its winning ways when it returns to the Provident Credit Union Event Center on Saturday, playing host to San Diego State. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. in San José.