LAS VEGAS – The San Jose State women's basketball team used a big second half to defeat UNLV, 67-48, on Monday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Tournament at the Thomas and Mack Center.
Up next for the No. 4 seed Spartans is a showdown with No. 1 seed Fresno State in the semifinals. Tip is at 6 PM on the Mountain West Digital Network.
Guard Ayzhiana Basallo, the Mountain West Newcomer of the Year, scored a team-high 18 points – going a perfect 2-for-2 from three and 6-for-6 at the free throw line – to lead the Spartans against the Lady Rebels. Raziya Potter and Megan Anderson each added 12 points.
SJSU defeated UNLV for the third time this year, the first time the Spartans knocked off an opponent three times in a single-season since 2016-17 (San Diego State).
UNLV jumped out to an early lead as a pair of back-to-back three-pointers by Bailey Thomas gave the Lady Rebels a 12-6 advantage with 5:24 left in the first quarter.
The Spartans rallied back to even up the game, 14-14, using an 8-2 run to end the first. Potter and Tyra Whitehead each had four points after one. The Spartans went eight minutes to open the game without a three-pointer before Anderson knocked one down as part of SJSU's quarter-closing run.
The Spartans scored the first four points of the second quarter on jumpers from Potter and Basallo. It was tied later in the second when SJSU rattled off a 10-0 run, keyed by a pair of Megan Anderson three-pointers, to pull ahead, 32-22, with 1:54 left. The Spartans took a 34-27 lead into the break. Anderson owned a team-high nine points on all three of the Spartans' made three-pointers in the first half. Potter added eight points on 3-of-5 shooting while Whitehead and Basallo each had six.
It took SJSU nearly three minutes to hit a shot in the third quarter as Courtesy Clark hit a three-pointer. Basallo knocked down a pair of free throws and a three-pointer for her own 5-0 run to push the Spartans' lead back to 10, 42-32, with 3:38 left in the third. The 5-0 run turned into a 11-2 run as SJSU took a 48-34 lead into the fourth quarter.
After a UNLV free throw to open the fourth, the Spartans continued to pull away with a 14-0 run to give the Spartans a 62-35 lead with 4:29 left in the game. UNLV cut the lead under 20 on two occasions before SJSU tallied a 67-48 win.
Notes: The Spartans are now 4-6 all-time in the Mountain West Tournament, posting their first win since 2017…The Spartans are 0-1 all-time in the Mountain West semifinals, they meet Fresno State tomorrow in the semis at 6 PM… The Spartans turned 24 UNLV turnovers into 29 points while the Lady Rebels converted 23 SJSU turnovers into just nine points…UNLV's Rodjanae Wade was 11-of-22 shooting (50%) in the game, the rest of the Lady Rebels were 9-of-38 (23.7%)…The Spartans were 11-of-14 at the free throw line while the Lady Rebels were 5-of-13.
