By Briana Conte

The San Jose State women’s basketball team duked it out in a close game against the University of Nevada, Reno but ultimately fell short 80-76.

This home loss against the Wolfpack (12-12, 5-8 MWC) results in the Spartans (15-8, 9-3 MWC) losing two in a row soon after their six-game winning streak was snapped by the University of Wyoming last Saturday. 

“We, all as one, need to do better at protecting the ball,” sophomore guard Ayzhiana Basallo said. 

The Spartans had 16 turnovers throughout the night. 

“I had half of the turnovers,” Basallo said.

Nevada put immense pressure on the Spartans and were physical all night, resulting in Basallo’s rough night with turnovers. 

However, Basallo put a game-high 20 points on the board followed by junior foward Tyra White, who scored 17 points and picked up seven rebounds. 

White also missed only one shot throughout the entire game, making seven of her eight field goal attempts, but the rest of the team had a poor shooting night overall.

Junior guard Megan Anderson had an off night, shooting 1-5 from three-point range.

“I thought they played harder than we did,” head coach Jamie Craighead said. “It looked like we played very slow to me.”

In the second quarter, the Spartans had the lead and by the third quarter, the two teams went back and forth until Nevada took over late in the game. 

By the fourth quarter, three consecutive turnovers by SJSU allowed Nevada to take the lead at 74-71. 

Nevada guard Miki’ala Maio came off the bench and scored a floater. Forward Imani Lacy put the nail in the coffin with a jumper that made it a 4-point lead. 

On the next play, Maio stole the ball from Basallo as the last seconds of the game ticked off the clock, sealing the deal for the visiting Wolfpack. 

Nevada’s bench came alive in the game as it had 33 points compared to the mere 9 bench points from SJSU.

The rotation of players kept the women refreshed on the court and it showed at the end of the game. 

The Spartans only had three players in double figures for the night.  

“We just gotta take care of the ball. We gotta go to every pass,” junior forward Cyndi Lewis said.

Despite the loss against Nevada, the team has their eyes set on the next game when they take on rival, Fresno State University. 

“We feel like we owe it to Fresno State to go and beat them on their home court and you know if our team plays well were fully capable of doing that,” Craighead said. 

The Bulldogs stole a game against the Spartans in overtime the last time they played. SJSU will look to avenge one of their few home losses on the road this Wednesday.