San José, Calif. - It was a great day to have a great day as San José State enjoyed its Senior Night to the tune of a 76-38 victory over Utah State on Monday night.
Seniors Fieme'a Hafoka and Alexis Harris both shined as the Spartans (17-11, 11-6 Mountain West) cruised to the program's largest conference victory since the 1979-80 season. Three players finished the evening in double figures and it was sophomore Ayzhiana Basallo who led the team with 18 points and five assists.
"That was obviously a nice way to send out our seniors," said head coach Jamie Craighead after the victory. "Those two seniors have given a lot of blood, sweat and tears to this program so it was really cool to do that for them. I thought we definitely sent them out the right way."
Sophomore Raziya Potter came off the bench to tally 16 points and five rebounds in the win. Guard Megan Anderson was the other Spartan in double figures, recording 11 points while grabbing five boards.
Just as she's done throughout her entire SJSU career, Hafoka was productive all around the floor on Tuesday. The guard finished the night with seven points and seven rebounds while Harris had six points and a trio of boards.
After falling behind by nine points early on, SJSU closed the first half on a commanding 28-6 run to take control of the game. The binge gave the home team a 35-22 advantage at the halftime break as Craighead's team held the Aggies to just four points in the game's second quarter.
SHE'S IN RANGE WHEN SHE STEPS INTO THE BUILDING
— San José State Women's Basketball (@SanJoseStateWBB) February 25, 2020
Ayzhiana Basallo ?? pic.twitter.com/8IaPY75wsX
The team's strong defense continued throughout the third period as the visitors from Logan tallied just six points over the next 10 minutes. A 7-1 burst out of the locker rooms - bookended by field goals from the team's top two scorers in Basallo and forward Tyra Whitehead - put the game out of reach early in the third.
SJSU's lead was 55-28 at the end of the quarter and grew to 72-36 when Hafoka and Harris exited to a standing ovation with just under two minutes remaining. The final score was 76-38, the 38-point margin of victory marking the program's largest in a league game since Jan. 11, 1980 (70-25 over Santa Clara).
Largest conference victory in 40 – count 'em, 40 – years.
— San José State Women's Basketball (@SanJoseStateWBB) February 25, 2020
Roll the tape ?? pic.twitter.com/n1PPPRNrPZ
The successful end to a great final season at the Event Center was fitting for the pair of seniors, each of whom were determined to honor some of the Spartan greats that came before them.
"Being a senior is a big deal to us," Harris said when asked about what the night meant. "We came in here when Dezz Ramos and Jasmine Smith were seniors. We looked up to them and tried to fill their shoes the best we could."
The Senior Night win marked Craighead's 125th victory of her career. The 17th win this season sets a record for San José State in the Craighead era, while the 11th conference victory matches the coach's previous high since taking over at the helm in San José (went 11-7 in Mountain West play in 2015-16 season).
The 38 points allowed was the program's fewest in a game since Feb. 18, 2006 (58-35 vs. New Mexico State). The Spartans allowed just four points in the game's second quarter and six in the third, marking the team's fourth and fifth single-digit defensive quarters of the year.
SJSU sits in third place in the league standings heading into Thursday's regular season finale at UNLV. The team will look to stay hot and extend its winning streak to three games against the Lady Rebels, with tip-off set for 6:00 p.m. at Cox Pavilion.