The San José State women’s basketball team lost its fourteenth consecutive game, falling to the University of Wyoming 88-73 on Wednesday night at the Provident Credit Union Event Center.
The Cowgirls (15-12, 10-6 MWC) dominated from the 3-point range shooting for 60% and outrebounding the Spartans (6-22, 1-15 MWC) 31 to 23.
“Those defensive struggles to guard the three were to me just simply a lack of effort if I’m being honest,” SJSU head coach April Phillips said. “We weren't sprinting out and trying to find ours and getting there and moving on the flight of the pass.”
Wyoming entered Wednesday night as the worst-shooting school in Mountain West Conference play averaging 29.1% behind the 3-point arch.
The loss for the Spartans marked the Cowgirls thirteenth straight victory over SJSU stemming back to 2016.
The Spartans were led offensively by guards sophomore Sabrina Ma and freshman Sydni Summers. Ma led SJSU with 17 points while Summers came in to score 15 points off the bench.
“We have to start focusing more on dialing in, in the beginning of the game and not wanting to pick it up towards the end,” Summers said.
Eleven of Ma’s 17 points came in the fourth quarter when she shot a perfect 3 for 3 from behind the 3-point arch.
“I think it's just confidence,” Ma said. “I've been getting in the gym a lot more before basketball games and so (it’s) just (about) getting that repetition in before games (and) just knowing I can hit the shot when the time comes.”
The Spartans held a close score with the Cowgirls in the first quarter, out rebounding Wyoming 9-5, but couldn’t contain their opponent’s 3-point shooting as the Cowgirls shot 6 3-pointers in the first quarter giving them a 23-17 lead.
The second quarter was a much different story for the Spartans as the Cowgirls blew the doors open shooting a perfect 6 for 6 from downtown pushing Wyoming’s lead to 51-30.
Wyoming junior guard/forward Tess Barnes led the Cowgirls offensively in the first half with 14 points and three rebounds while shooting 4 for 5 from the three.
The second half held the same result as the Spartans were down 82-47 with 6 minutes left in the fourth quarter. SJSU then went on an 18-1 run but couldn’t dig itself out of the hole as the Spartans would ultimately fall 88-73.
SJSU outperformed Wyoming from behind the arch in the second half shooting 8 for 9 compared to the Cowgirl’s 3 for 9.
“For us, I thought our ability to not quit and to continue to stay in the game and to continue to fight and pick up our intensity late obviously is a good sign that this team has not quit and that there is some heart in there,” Phillips said.
The Spartans will next celebrate their senior night as SJSU looks to get its first win since Jan. 6 when they beat Utah State 69-54. SJSU is scheduled to face off against Colorado State University at 2 p.m. on Saturday at the Provident Credit Union Event Center.
