San Jose State women’s basketball is set to play a shortened 25-game 2020-21 season schedule, despite the recent surge in coronavirus cases.
The team is coming off a 2019-20 season where they improved by 13 wins (19-12, 12-6 MWC) from their 2018-19 season.
SJSU will face University of California, Berkeley in their first of five non-conference games starting Wednesday. The first Mountain West Conference game is on Dec. 21 against Utah State University at the Provident Credit Union Event Center.
Forward Alani Fluker, a public health freshman from San Antonio, Texas, said she is excited to play her first collegiate game.
“I’m pretty excited about the season,” Fluker said over the phone. “I’m pretty confident in our team, we’ve got a really good group of girls who just want to win, bottom line.”
With practice happening during a pandemic, Fluker detailed the safety measures SJSU Athletics implemented to keep players and staff safe.
“We have been practicing but obviously with COVID and everything, we have to take precautionary measures,” Fluker said. “We always make sure we wear our masks in practice, our balls are constantly sanitized and we still maintain social distancing.”
She said that the team social distances at practice by having team huddles spaced out, face masks are worn at all times and players are tested three times a week for COVID-19.
There is one university Fluker said she is looking forward to playing against this season: Fresno State.
“We [took] a tough loss against them last year in the tournament,” she said. “But it was a learning experience and we’re looking to grow from it. We’ve gotten better as a team.”
Point guard Danae Marquez said she’s eyeing the Mountain West Championship this year as the new season approaches.
“I’m most excited about putting all of our pieces together and seeing the magic that’s going to come out,” Marquez said over text. “We have a whole lot
of weapons.”
Though Marquez feels the coaching staff has limited travel as much as possible to reduce COVID-19 exposure, she said she is concerned about the integrity of the bubble that the team has worked hard to maintain.
The team has been associating themselves with only other players and staff under the state’s stay-at-home mandates. Players are restricted to going outside only under essential travel and are advised to practice social distancing.
“The idea of having to rely on others to remain in our bubble is what gets tough when we begin traveling,” Marquez said. “I’m just taking it day by day and [I’m] gonna enjoy this season the best I can.”
Three veteran players from last season are also returning to SJSU. Point guard, Ayzhiana Basallo, forward Tyra Whitehead and guard Raziya Potter are going to play key roles in this
upcoming season.
Incoming freshmen like Sophia Jones, who averaged 25 points per game her senior year of high school, are also expected to bring forth a strong scoring season for the Spartans.
On Nov. 19, Basallo was named to the preseason All-Mountain West Conference team with votes from Mountain West Conference coaches and media. She is the fourth Spartan in program history to receive the honor.
After averaging a team-high 18.5 points per game and shooting over 44% from the field, Basallo was named Mountain West Newcomer of the Year when the 2020 season ended.
Basallo and Whitehead were named as rising talents in the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year watch list on Nov. 11, a list voted on by the staff of Her Hoops Stats Newsletter, a news site for all things women’s basketball.
Only 25 players in the country make the list, according to the Mountain West website.
The SJSU women’s basketball program was recently named second place in Mountain West’s Preseason Poll, the best ranking the program has received in a preseason poll.
Similar to football, the women’s and men’s basketball teams will be streamed to accommodate regulations.
“Due to current COVID-19 restrictions set by Santa Clara County, fans will not be allowed at the Provident Credit Union Event Center for home contests,” Connor Pelton, SJSU assistant media relations director, said in an email statement to the Spartan Daily.
Pelton’s statement also addressed questions about spectators potentially seeing the Spartans in action in other states and the team’s handling of COVID-19 precautions.
“Decisions on fans at San Jose State games away from home will be set by the host institution,” Pelton said. “Our women’s basketball student-athletes have been living in controlled environments with regular testing protocols since returning to campus in August and look forward to competing this season.”
With new players like Jones, who matches Basallo in scoring ability, the Spartans
feel confident in continuing to build a winning culture.
