San José, Calif. – Forward Tyra Whitehead tallied 18 points and guard Megan Anderson added 13 but it was Air Force who escaped with a 67-66 victory on Saturday afternoon at the Provident Credit Union Event Center.
Despite trailing by as many as 17 points in the second half, San José State put together a furious rally and would eventually lead in the game's final minute. The contest's entire fourth quarter was a back-and-forth affair that saw neither team lead by more than two possessions.
Whitehead put together one of her most complete performances of the season in the defeat. In addition to the 18-point explosion, the grad transfer pulled down 12 rebounds while tallying four assists, three blocks and three steals. The double-double was her 11th on the season.
In all, Saturday's game featured 11 lead changes and eight ties. The game of runs started early as the hosts used a 14-3 binge to close the first quarter and erase a nine-point deficit, giving the Spartans an 18-17 advantage after the first 10 minutes.
Then it was the visiting team's turn, exploding on the offensive end of the floor while tightening up on defense to hold a 15-point lead at the halftime break.
Trailing 45-28 early in the third quarter, SJSU put together its best run of the season to get right back in the game. Anderson buried a triple to get the burst started, and by the time sophomore Ayzhiana Basallo hit on a driving layup, the team had scored 17 straight points to even the tally at 45-45.
m3gan and3rson @meg44anderson ?? pic.twitter.com/pleNzh5C3g
— San José State Women's Basketball (@SanJoseStateWBB) February 15, 2020
"We needed to find a breakthrough," said sophomore Raziya Potter when asked about the comeback. "I thought we started off a little slow today and we needed to turn it around. We had a lot of fight and intensity in that third quarter."
San José State was just as strong on the defensive end of the floor as it was on offense during the run, forcing four turnovers in a scoreless drought that lasted nearly eight minutes for the Falcons. The third quarter would end square at 50-50, a tie that head coach Jamie Craighead told her team she wanted while in the locker rooms at the half.
"Our kids were feeling pretty down at halftime," Craighead said after the game. "But they did what I asked them to do. I said I wanted the game to be tied at the end of the third quarter and they did a great job of battling back."
The lead would switch hands four times in the game's final 10 minutes as Craighead's team mounted one last comeback attempt in the contest's final stages.
Down 62-56 with just under four minutes remaining, the Spartans embarked on a 7-0 run that was initiated by five straight points from Whitehead. Basallo then buried a pair of free throws to give her team a 63-62 lead with one minute to play, but that would be the last lead the home team saw.
Anderson did knock down a triple that made the score 67-66 with less than a second remaining and while SJSU was able to force a turnover on the ensuing inbound pass, the officials ruled that time had expired in the sequence.
San José State ended the day with an edge in second chance points (13-11) and bench points (8-2).
The Spartans will return to the road now, meeting Boise State in a game critical for postseason positioning on Wednesday night. Just half a game separates the Spartans and Broncos from second place in the Mountain West standings with two weeks of basketball remaining in the regular season.
Tip-off for that one is set for 6:00 p.m. (MT) inside ExtraMile Arena.