Senior Lamisha Augustine took one of her most important shots of the season as she made a jumper with 25 seconds left in the game to give the San Jose State womens basketball team a 56-54 victory over host Hawaii Saturday evening at the Stan Sheriff Center. The win gives SJSU sole possession of second place in the Western Athletic Conference standings behind Louisiana Tech and a five-game winning streak.
The Spartans led by as many as 11 in the second half. But Amber Jackson, the Spartans leading scorer, was forced to the bench at the 14:05 mark of the second half as recorded her fourth personal foul. San Jose State had a hard time finding any offense for the next eight minutes with Jackson on the bench.
The Rainbow Wahine slowly chipped away at the Spartan lead, which was 46-35 at one point. Amy Sanders scored at the 3:10 mark to tie the game at 52-52. Neither team scored again until Alofa Toiaivao scored at the 1:32 mark to give Hawaii a 54-52 lead. Jackson scored on the next Spartans next trip down the floor. Hawaii had two chances to tie the game after Augustines go-ahead field goal, but neither shot found the bottom of the bucket.
Jackson led all scores with 17 points, including 8-of-10 from the field. She also recorded her eighth double-double of the season with 10 rebounds. Her final rebound came in the last seconds of the game as Hawaii was trying to tie the score. Augustine finished with 15 points and six rebounds. Jessica Kellogg scored 14 points, all in the first half, for the Spartans. She was 4-of-8 from three-point range. Erica McGlaston showed why she leads the WAC in assists as she dished out 11.
Entering tonights game, San Jose State was 10th in the nation in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to 34.7 percent from the field. Saturday night was no different as Hawaii shot just 29.6 percent from the field, making 16 of its 54 attempts. SJSU is also one of the top teams in the WAC in field goal percentage and shot 44 percent from the field (22-50).
For only the second time in the series, San Jose State swept the regular season series. The only other time was last season. Hawaii leads the overall series, 32-10, but SJSU has won the last five games.
The win gives San Jose State a five-game winning streak heading into competition next week with SMU and Louisiana Tech. It is the longest WAC winning streak since the 2001-02 season when the Spartans finished the regular season with six-straight WAC wins before losing to Tulsa in the conference tournament.
San Jose State now stands alone in second place in the WAC standings by percentage points with the win. The team is 7-3 in the WAC, ahead of SMU who is now 7-4 after losing to Fresno State 70-62. The Spartans will face SMU Thursday night and look to avenge a 58-37 loss on January 15, where the team shot just 24.5 percent from the field. The team then hosts conference leader Louisiana Tech Saturday evening at 7 p.m. Both games will be played at The Event Center.