COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Earning the program's first individual superlative award since 2016, San José State sophomore Ayzhiana Basallo was named the Mountain West Newcomer of the Year on Sunday.
Basallo was also named to All-Mountain West Team along with forward Tyra Whitehead, who earned All-Conference Honorable Mention honors. The pair make up the program's first all-conference selections since Dezz Ramos was named as an All-Mountain West selection in 2017.
The two all-conference honorees for the Spartans are the program's most since 2013, when Ta'Rea Cunnigan and Riana Byrd were both voted as All-WAC selections. Basallo's Newcomer of the Year nod marks the program's second such award, following in the footsteps of Ramos back in 2016.
AYZHIANA BASALLO
This marks Basallo's second conference-wide award in as many seasons of play after the point guard took home the Big West Sixth Player of the Year award in her freshman campaign at Cal Poly. The San Francisco native has enjoyed as productive of a season as anyone in the conference, averaging a league-leading 18.7 points per game to go along with 4.8 assists per game. Basallo was the only Mountain West player to reach the 500-point plateau by the end of the regular season. Named as a Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year semifinalist, Basallo has been on a steady climb up the record books at SJSU.
Shining on a national level as well, the sophomore ranks 29th nationally in scoring and is inside the top-50 in assists. She is also one of the nation's top free throw shooters, slotted second in Division I with a 92.1% clip at the charity stripe. Her 139 makes at the charity stripe has her at No. 5 on the program's list for made free throws in a single season (Cunnigan is all-time leader at 178).
Newcomer of the Year but been running the game for a while.
— San José State Women's Basketball (@SanJoseStateWBB) March 1, 2020
Congrats to our point guard Ayzhiana Basallo on her award from the @MountainWest ?? pic.twitter.com/YewvNMk81A
Basallo has scored in double figures in 24 of her 26 games against Division I opponents and has reached the 20-point plateau in 13 of those. The point guard has been strong all season long, winning back-to-back Mountain West Player of the Week awards back in November.
TYRA WHITEHEAD
The Mountain West's best defender throughout the 2019-20 campaign, Whitehead has also averaged a double-double to show off her versatile game.
The Wake Forest transfer is averaging 13.9 points and 10.2 rebounds per game as postseason play tips off, one of just two players in the conference averaging a double-double. She ranks No. 2 in the league in steals and is slotted at No. 5 in blocks, the league's only player inside the top-five in each category. She has also been a double-double machine, ending the regular season with 13 total double-doubles.
First year with multiple all-conference honorees since 2013.
— San José State Women's Basketball (@SanJoseStateWBB) March 1, 2020
Congratulations to Ayzhiana Basallo and @tmarie1533!
??: https://t.co/CGPY1u85v5 pic.twitter.com/StepOHpZVv
Whitehead became just the second player in San José State history to post a 20/20 game, tallying 22 points and 20 rebounds against Fresno State. Lastly, Whitehead ranks No. 10 in all of Division I and is second in the Mountain West with 297 rebounds.