San José State women’s basketball started its season with a loss after the Spartans were defeated 55-47 at home against Santa Clara University on Monday night.
Freshman point guard Jyah LoVett scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds. Freshman forward Maya Anderson added nine points.
“We held Santa Clara to 55 points, which is really tough to do because they can really score the ball,” SJSU head coach April Phillips said. “We just didn't knock down enough shots … We turned the ball over way too much and that really hurt.”
The Spartans led as much as six points in the second quarter, but the Broncos cut the deficit to two as the first half ended.
18 of the Spartans’ 23 points in the first half came in the paint. SJSU used a 2-2-1 press early on, scoring 12 points off of 13 turnovers.
SJSU led 23-21 at the intermission.
The Broncos made some headway in the third quarter as they outscored the Spartans 14-11. Santa Clara forced 9 turnovers in the third quarter alone, but SJSU was able to weather the storm to keep the game close heading into the fourth quarter.
But the fourth quarter was all Broncos.
Santa Clara outscored SJSU 20-13 in the fourth quarter. The Spartans offense went cold, shooting just 42.9% in the final quarter.
The Spartans turned the ball 26 times which led to 22 Santa Clara points.
“I feel like it was just nerves and not being ready,” LoVett said about turning the ball over.
The Spartans will have a quick turnaround as they are scheduled to face Bellarmine University at 5 p.m. Thursday at Provident Credit Union Event Center. The game is the first of a double header with SJSU’s men’s basketball team playing at 8 p.m. against Bethesda.
San José State freshman guard Jyah LoVett dribbles the ball in the Spartan’s home opener against Santa Clara University Monday.
