San José, Calif. – Sophomore Ayzhiana Basallo led all scorers with 20 points and forward Tyra Whitehead added 17 but it was visiting Nevada who escaped the Provident Credit Union Event Center with an 80-76 victory on Saturday afternoon.
The Spartans (15-8, 9-3 Mountain West) held a 41-36 lead at halftime before the Wolf Pack pulled away late. SJSU finished the day shooting at a 45.8 percent clip from the field and was 16-for-20 from the free throw line.
Saturday's game featured a monster 13 lead changes and 11 ties with neither team holding a lead of more than eight points.
"I thought it was a pretty evenly matched game," said head coach Jamie Craighead. "We can definitely score more than that though. We played a little slow offensively and we could have worked the ball inside a little more there in the second half."
Senior Fieme'a Hafoka was the other Spartan in double figures in this one. Hafoka dropped 12 points while grabbing seven rebounds in one of her most productive games of the season.
The visitors from Reno held a 20-16 lead after the first quarter and were up 28-20 before the hosts made their first big run of the day. An 8-0 binge - spearheaded by a Basallo triple and capped with an and-one from guard Megan Anderson - pulled San José State even, and it was the Spartans who ended the half with some red-hot offense and a 41-36 advantage.
The second half was a back-and-forth affair as neither team led by more than seven points. Both teams have been fairly even through the whole season as neither led by double digits in either of the two meetings.
We call Basallo Shakespeare cause all she does is make plays. pic.twitter.com/c7sN8MExaM
— San José State Women's Basketball (@SanJoseStateWBB) February 8, 2020
A pair of Cydni Lewis free throws gave SJSU its last lead at 71-68 with just under six and a half minutes remaining. The team was solid at the charity stripe for the duration of the fourth quarter, and it was a pair of makes from Whitehead that pulled her squad to within 78-76 with just 45 seconds to play.
That would be the closest San José State would get though as Nevada tightened up on defense down the stretch to hold on for the 80-76 victory.
"Whether it's first, second or last place, there is going to be a target on our back now," Basallo said when asked about the rest of the season. "We have no choice but to play hard and push through. This is where we turn it around."
A showdown between the conference's top two teams awaits the Spartans next. They will return to action on Wednesday at Fresno State, where tip-off is set for 6:00 p.m. inside the Save Mart Center.