San José, Calif. - Just three home games remain for the 2019-20 season as San José State returns to the Provident Credit Union Event Center on Saturday afternoon to host Air Force.
The Falcons enter the weekend with a record of 5-19 (3-10 Mountain West) and are 3-9 on the road this season. It's guard Kaelin Immel who paces the Air Force offense with an average of 15.2 points per game. Fellow guard Emily Conroe tops the team on the glass, pulling down an average of 7.1 boards per game.
It was forward Tyra Whitehead who led the Spartans on Wednesday at first-place Fresno State, tallying her 10th double-double of the season that featured a career-high 28 points.
Saturday's contest will be streamed on the Mountain West Network with Daniel Barrera 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
EXAMINING AIR FORCE
Saturday's meeting will also serve as the 25th game of the season for Fresno State. The team currently owns a 5-19 record and is coming off a five-point loss to third-place Boise State on Wednesday. The Falcons are 3-10 in Mountain West play this season.
It's guard Kaelin Immel who paces the Air Force offense with an average of 15.2 points per game. Fellow guard Emily Conroe tops the team on the glass, pulling down an average of 7.1 boards per game.
The Falcons are 3-9 on the road this season. They emerged victorious in their last away game, topping San Diego State 51-49 inside Viejas Arena.
SJSU VS. THE MOUNTAIN WEST
Overall, San José State is 120-224 against the current make up of schools in the Mountain West. The Spartans last conference victory came over third-place Boise State on Jan. 29.
Sophomore Ayzhiana Basallo led her team in the 74-61 victory at the Provident Credit Union Event Center, tallying 28 points while pulling down five rebounds. After Saturday's tilt, San José State's next Mountain West game will come on Wednesday at Boise State.
BASALLO NAMED MID-MAJOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR SEMIFINALIST
Sophomore Ayzhiana Basallo has been named as one of 10 semifinalists for the Her Hoop Stats Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year award. The point guard is the youngest player on the list and the only representative from the Mountain West.
WHITE(HEAD) NOISE
Forward Tyra Whitehead ranks No. 15 in all of Division I and is first in the Mountain West with 241 rebounds. Her 10 double-doubles on the season slots her at second in the conference and 32nd nationally in that category. Whitehead has made 154 field goals on the season and is 83 makes away from breaking into the program's top-10 list for made field goals in a season.
The Wake Forest transfer became just the second player in program history to join the 20/20 Club last month, tallying 22 points and 20 rebounds against first-place Fresno State. Whitehead was just the 13th player in all of Division I to accomplish the feat this season and is the first to do so at San José State since Lora Alexander (1989). It was an all-around strong month for the forward, who was named the Mountain West Player of the Week on Jan. 27 after recording back-to-back double-doubles in wins over New Mexico and Air Force.
BASALLO BREAKDOWN
Ayzhiana Basallo has been one of the top guards in the country this season, ranking 14th nationally in points per game (19.9) and No. 55 in assists with 4.8 per game. She is also one of the nation's top free throw shooters, slotted second in Division I with a 92.5% clip at the charity stripe. Her 123 makes at the charity stripe has her at No. 8 on the program's list for made fee throws in a single season (Ta'Rea Cunnigan is all-time leader at 178).
Basallo has scored in double figures in 20 of her games against Division I opponents and has reached the 20-point plateau in 13 of those. In addition, the point guard tops the Mountain West in both scoring and free throw percentage as the month of February continues.
ACTUALLY, STEALING IS GOOD
San José State is ranked No. 12 nationally with 266 steals in 24 games. Forward Tyra Whitehead is slotted 29th in the country in that category with 58 thieveries. Guards Fieme'a Hafoka (42 steals) and Danae Marquez (32) are also stealing the ball at a high rate as the month of February rolls on.
THREE'S COMPANY
Fresno product Megan Anderson moved up to No. 5 on the school's all-time made three-pointers list with a trio of triples on Wednesday at Fresno State. The junior has now made 165 three-pointers on her career with the Spartans.
WINNING WAYS
The Spartans earned their 15th win on Jan. 29 against Boise State, a victory that clinched the program's first winning regular season since the 2004-05 campaign (went 17-11 in regular season).
ROAD WARRIORS (OR SPARTANS)
SJSU already has six road wins in total on the 2019-20 campaign. This is the program's first season with more than five road victories since winning eight in the 2004-05 campaign. The team's wins at Nevada and Colorado State earlier this month marked the program's first road sweep since the 2015-16 campaign (won at Air Force and Fresno State).
CARDIAC SPARTANS
The Spartans have been one of the nation's top teams in the clutch this season, winning eight games decided by one or two possessions (Boise State, Fresno State and Nevada are MW's next closest with seven wins). Half of those eight victories have come by three points or less.
BUSY STRETCH
Saturday's meeting with Air Force comes in the middle of a stretch featuring six games in 15 days to put a lid on the regular season for the Spartans.
ON THE BENCH
The Spartans are one of just three schools in the Mountain West (Air Force and Nevada) with an all-female coaching staff. This is head coach Jamie Craighead's seventh season with the Spartans while associate head coach Alle Moreno is now in her fifth year. Assistant coaches Carlotta Kloppenburg and Arielle Wideman joined the staff in 2018.
#BEATBOISE
San José State took down defending Mountain West champion and preseason favorite Boise State in a 74-61 last month. The victory marked the program's first-ever regular season win over the team picked in first place for the conference's preseason poll.
SEARCHING FOR SOME MARCH MADNESS
The Spartans are aiming to make their first postseason tournament in NCAA program history this year. The school's last trip to the postseason came prior to NCAA sponsorship as the 1980-81 Spartans faced USC in the first round of the AIAW Regionals.
MAKING SOME HISTORY
San José State set multiple school records in its Dec. 14 victory over La Verne. The 128 points scored by the Spartans set a program record for scoring in a single game, topping its previous high of 119 (vs. Columbia, 2014). Its 66-point win broke a record for margin of victory that had stood since 1979 (65 vs. Cal Poly, 1979). In addition, SJSU's 44 made field goals matched the school record for makes in a single game (44 vs. Arizona on Jan. 4, 1979). Finally, the 128 points is the second most scored by a Division I team this season (Coastal Carolina, 132).
GOOD WAY TO START A YEAR
San José State finished the month of January with a record of 7-1, matching the program's second-best January in school history (also went 7-01 in 1981-82). The 1978-79 Spartans have the current record, going 10-0 in the first month of the year en route to a 24-4 record.
FIRST AT THE PIT
San José State's 81-80 win on New Year's Day in Albuquerque marked the program's first-ever victory at New Mexico.
20 ON 22's 20TH
Point guard Danae Marquez celebrated her 20th birthday in fine fashion last month, 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.