SAN JOSE, Calif. - Host San Jose State broke from a 49-49 halftime tie with an 11-0 run to start the second half and went on to post a 95-81 win over Georgia State Wednesday at The Event Center.
It's said teams can live by the 3-point shot and die by the 3-point shot and tonight SJSU was living large. San Jose State hit a school-record 14 3-point shots with eight in the second half in posting its sixth 90-plus point game and improving to 5-5 on the season. SDSU was 14-of-28 (50%) from beyond the arc for the game, but an impressive 8-of-14 (57%) in the second half. The Spartans improve to 4-1 at home.
Georgia State closed back to 80-72 with 3:28 but couldn't complete a comeback. The Panthers struggled with their shooting in the second half, making just 13-of-43 at 30.2%. That lowered the game shooting percentage to 37.5% on 33-of-88.
Guards Kayla Nolan and Kendra Long each led GSU (4-7) with 16 points, while Nolan added nine rebounds to just miss a double-double. Freshman forward Haley Gerrin added 10 points and six boards.The teams traded the lead seven times and there were six ties before SJSU got control in the second half.
GSU held a plus-10, 54-44 rebound advantage. The Panthers' defense forced 23 turnovers and had 13 steals on the evening. Georgia State got off 10 more shots (88-to-78) than San Jose State, shot more free throws (16-to-13), but misfired too often.
San Jose junior guard Rebecca Woodberry was the star with seven 3-point baskets, five in the first half, while scoring 25 points. It was her fourth game this season with 5 or more 3-pointers. Junior Ta'Rea Cunningham added four 3-point baskets in the second half en route to a 24-point evening.
"They came out on fire to start the second half and that was the difference," coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener said. "We missed a lot of easy shots tonight and you just can't afford to do that against a high-scoring team. I give credit to them for making 14 treys and a shot clock sure isn't needed in these games. But, I am disappointed in our shooting and lack of execution."
The game started with two quick treys by San Jose State and a 10-4 lead. But, GSU immediately answered and gained a 15-12 lead at 13:32. Two more treys by Woodberry helped SJSU open a 23-17 advantage at 11:22, but GSU closed back to 29-28 at 7:46. A pair of Ashanti Groover lay-ups tied the game at 41 at 3:55 in the half. GSU led twice more at 47-45 and 49-47, but Classye James scored with 10 seconds in the half to tie the game at 49 at halftime.
The second half started with 3-pointers by James, then Britta Hall, then Woodberry, then Cunningan in the first four minutes. A fifth trey by Cunningan made it 68-54 with 13:13 on the clock. SJSU's largest lead was 75-55 at 9:53, but GSU whittled that back to eight at 80-72 with 3:28.
For Georgia State, this was a homecoming game for starter Ashley Watson. The junior from Archbishop MItty in San Jose had been out since Nov. 15 with a knee injury and returned tonight off the bench to score eight points and make five assists. Junior center Brittany Logan also returned after missing four games with an injury and added nine points and seven rebounds in her reserve role.
Georgia State, winners of four of its last six games, stays in the San Francisco area to face Santa Clara on Friday night at 10 p.m. ET.
