San Jose State women’s basketball lost to Air Force Academy Wednesday afternoon in a 68-59 loss at Provident Credit Union Event Center in San Jose.
Wednesday’s loss worsens the Spartans’ abysmal 2021-2022 season, continuing a seven-game losing streak, and are 1-15 in the Mountain West Conference.
The Spartans failed to capitalize on turnovers, mustering up just seven points compared to the Falcons who gained a glaring 24 points from turnovers.
“It was the turnovers that plagued us, when another team gets to shoot that many more times than you do,” said head coach Jamie Craighead Turner. “It's gonna be really tough to win a basketball game.”
The Falcons had 11 steals, 15 offensive rebounds and gained 24 points off the Spartans’ turnovers, creating defensive pressure for the Spartans.
“Man, Air Force just put so much pressure on you that it felt like, you know, we obviously turned the ball over way too many times . . .” Craighead Turner said. “I think, their pressure, their constant willingness to pick up and put pressure on you, sort of gets you rattled a little bit.”
Air Force also outscored SJSU with 28 points off turnovers compared to the Spartans’ seven points.
“We basically trust in the coach’s plan and just execute on defense,” said senior guard A’tyanna Gaulden in a postgame news conference. “Because we know that we're a great offensive team, we just got to play defense for all four quarters.”
Gaulden was the Spartans’ anchor on the offensive end, scoring 16 points.
The Spartans kept the score close during the first three quarters.
While the Spartans did trail the majority of the game, they kept it to a one-possession game with timely stops and shots by players including Gaulden and junior point guard Stephanie Torres.
Spartan senior forward Cydni Lewis hit a career milestone in the final minutes of the game as she became the 18th player in SJSU history to hit 1,000 points at minute 4:56 in the fourth quarter.
“It definitely made everything, especially being for five years, I'm glad I got to be such a big milestone, and I just need to stay in it for my team. Just keep attacking the basket,” Lewis said in a postgame news conference.
While Lewis played well individually with a 17 point, 13 rebound double double to complement her accomplishment, the Spartans failed to close the game in the fourth quarter.
The Spartans’ offense outpaced the Falcons’ Wednesday afternoon but the careless handling of the basketball and their poor defense in the fourth quarter ended the team’s chances of winning the game.
The Spartans face New Mexico State Friday at 6 p.m. in their final home game of the season at Provident Credit Union Event Center in San Jose.
