San Jose State University’s women’s basketball team earned its first victory of the season when they defeated California State Bakersfield 82-72 on Saturday. The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Spartans.
The Spartans opened up the scoring with a jump shot made by sophomore forward Mikaylah Wilson 20 seconds into the game.
Junior guard Fa-Ko-Fieme’a Hafoka made the first 3-point field goal for the Spartans which started an 11-4 run heading into the first stoppage of play.
The Spartans had a 14-6 lead, but the Roadrunners began to gain momentum.
The Roadrunners went on a 6-0 run of their own to close the gap to 14-12 in favor of the Spartans.
The Roadrunners pulled ahead of the Spartans for the first time in the game 20-18 with 1:45 left in the opening quarter.
Spartans sophomore point guard Danae Marquez hit a 3-point field goal with 3 seconds left in the first quarter to put SJSU within three points of Bakersfield. The first quarter ended with the Roadrunners in the lead 24-21.
The Spartans opened the second quarter scoring, this time with a 3-point shot made by freshman guard Raziya Potter to tie the game up at 24.
Both teams were trading scores back and forth until the Spartans regained the lead at 31-27 with 7:20 left until halftime. However, Roadrunners closed the gap to 31-30 after a 3-point field goal by junior point guard Dalis Jones.
The Spartans then went on a 9-2 run, increasing their lead to 40-33 with a little more than 2 minutes to play until halftime. The second quarter would end 40-37 in favor of SJSU, giving the Spartans a lead heading into the second half.
At the start of the third quarter, the Roadrunners scored the first points of the second half making it 40-39. The Spartans then went on a 5-0 run to make it 45-39 with 7:29 remaining in the third quarter.
The Roadrunners were able to pull ahead of the Spartans at 48-47 after Bakersfield senior guard JJ Johnson split two free throws with 2:52 left in the third quarter.
The Spartans managed to close out the third quarter strong and stayed in the lead 54-49 heading into the final quarter of play.
Spartans junior guard Analyss Benally made a jump shot to put them further ahead 56-49.
The Spartans continued to show dominance on the offensive end and continued to push their lead to 74-59 with 4:20 left in the game. This was the Spartans largest lead of the game.
With only 1:22 left, the Roadrunners cut the Spartans lead in half 79-72, but SJSU would prevail. The Spartans defeated Bakersfield 82-72.
“[Fast paced basketball] actually is our game plan. We run dribble drive, four out, one in,” Marquez said.
Sophomore forward Cydni Lewis was proud for the team get their first win of the season at home.
“I think after three straight losses … we got to come back home to get this win. It’s a really good feeling,” Lewis said.
Head coach Jamie Craighead said she believes the Spartans showed
their dominance on the court.
“I thought that we won all the little things. I thought we played better as a team. I thought that we hustled after loose balls and gave ourselves a great chance to win a game when you have that big of a leap in the fourth quarter late,” Craighead said.
