The San José State women's basketball team managed to defend home court over the weekend, sweeping visitors Kennesaw State 68-64 Thursday and California State University, Northridge 62-44 on Sunday.
The Spartans are now 4-2 on the season while KSU and CSUN both fell to 2-3.
SJSU managed to hang on because of strong offensive play from guard Sydni Summers and forward Djessira Diawara. Summer was the team’s leading scorer with 13 points, shooting 4-7 from deep and splitting her two free throw attempts at the line.
SJSU head coach April Phillips attributes the win to her players’ defensive effort.
“We were able to keep their leading scorers well under their averages,” Phillips said. “We just stuck with the game plan.”
Everything seemed to be going KSU’s way in the first quarter as the game fell into its favor from the free throw line shooting 7-7. They also managed to outshoot the Spartans from the field and from three in the same quarter
Kennesaw State shot 50% from both the 3-point line and from the field. Comparatively, SJSU shot 33% from the field and 43% from behind the arc. The Spartans also had eight turnovers, giving Owl extra possessions.
Diawara struggled early, committing two turnovers in the first half. Diawara’s sluggish start didn’t affect her game, as she bounced back and finished the game with 12 points on 6-9 shooting along with 7 rebounds, making her a crucial factor to the team’s victory against KSU.
“I show up at the moment of opportunity,” Diawara said. “I continue to go out there and (do) what my team needs to get the win.”
Senior big Hennie van Schaik contributed to the Spartan’s surge by scoring 10 points, including two 3-pointers.
The two 3-pointers she drained in the game were the first long-range bombs she has made all season after going 0-6 before this game.
“The whole team, coaches and everybody gave me the confidence to keep shooting,” van Schaik said. “So it was just a good moment to finally hit some.”
The game between San José State women’s basketball team and California State University, Northridge was evenly matched on Sunday in the first quarter until CSUN guard Erika Aspajo took a substantial hit with 2:07 remaining in the quarter.
Forward Hennie van Schaik was the leading scorer and managed to hit a season high with 15 points, including 12 rebounds.
Aspajo came into the game leading her team in scoring and assists, averaging 12.7 points per game and 5.3 assists per game.
The Spartans’ defense showed out during the second quarter, which held the Matadors to just 5 points on 2-for-18 shooting from the field and 0-for-8 behind the arc.
Before halftime, SJSU had its longest run of the game going 12-0 during the second quarter, ending the first half leading 36-20.
“Usually we have three people rebounding,” van Schaik said. “They’re a big transition team (and) we only had two people rebounding so it's funny how that works.”
The Spartans’ momentum continued during the second half of the game with them owning the boards, by grabbing 56 rebounds versus the Matadors’ 36.
SJSU snowballed into the biggest lead of 24 points with 4:57 remaining in the fourth quarter.
“I think defense, rebounding, those things kind of go hand in hand, It’s a toughness factor,” Phillips said. “We talk about being able to out tough teams, and I think that rebounding plays a really big part in that.”
Overall, SJSU locked down defensively, causing CSUN to shoot 27.6% from the field (16-for-58) and 21.4% behind the arc (6-for-28).
Guard Sydni Summers scored 9 points made all behind the arc, including 3 rebounds.
“These past few weeks we have been emphasizing defense in practice,” Summers said. “Coach has been emphasizing straight line drives, so it's been getting stuck in our heads.”
The Spartans will gear up as they are scheduled to travel to Puerto Rico this week to play the University of North Carolina Wilmington on Thursday.
