San José State head coach April Phillips knows that to get to a place where the Spartans are competitive in the Mountain West Conference, it’s going to take a deep team.
In the first five minutes of SJSU’s 55-47 loss to Santa Clara University Monday, Phillips played nine of the team’s 10 players who suited up. Every player who checked into Monday’s game played at least seven minutes.
“We’ve got some depth that, talent wise, are capable,” Phillips said. “It's just a matter of trying to figure out what our rotation can be and how deep we can go. I think some of those questions were answered for me tonight.”
It’s still early in the season, but building a long rotation of players who can contribute at any point of the game is vital for a team who doesn’t have a clear cut star player.
The Spartans have seven newcomers including five freshmen and two transfers, all of whom look like they will play big roles this season.
One of the new pieces on the team is freshman guard Jyah LoVett. Despite being one of the youngest players on the team, LoVett has already established herself as one of the team’s leaders.
“I'm working on being able to lead my team on offense and defense,” LoVett said. “That's what I'm here to do and that's what brought me here.”
The Spartans lacked a post presence on both sides of the floor last season, but Phillips seems to have found a rotation of players who she could use at different times of the game.
Forwards Finau Tonga, Semaj Smith and Amhyia Moreland played a total of 44 minutes on the floor and combined for 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Time will tell if the Spartans can make strides to become a winning team, but having the ability to play multiple players and not have a significant drop off is a good sign for the second year of the April Phillips’ rebuild.
