The Cowgirl Basketball team defeated San José 75 to 54 on Wednesday, Feb. 9.
Both teams came out strong offensively, but the Cowgirls struggled defensively in the first quarter of the game.
The Cowgirls scored 23 points in the first quarter but also gave up 25 points to the Spartans.
“The message was [coming out of halftime] we get out and keep playing defense like we did in the second quarter,” Head Coach Gerald Mattinson said. “Once again, I don’t understand what happened in the first quarter. I guess we didn’t have them ready.”
A late buzzer-beater 3-point field goal from San Jose’s Autam Mendez at the end of the first quarter provided the Spartans with a two point lead over the Cowgirls going into the second.
The Spartans started up the second quarter with a steal leading to a fastbreak layup from Ella Ogier, tallying the score at 27-23.
“Toward the end of the first quarter on, we were like ‘We’re not giving up three’s,’” Mattinson said. “We held them to six points in the second quarter. I think that was the big turnaround for us.”
The Cowgirls broke the drought after a driving Senior Guard Tommi Olson led to an open three-point bucket from Alba Sanchez Ramos bringing the score 26-27.
Another three from Sophomore Guard Grace Ellis gave the Cowgirls the lead 29-27 with 6:54 left in the quarter.
A series of three-point shots from Olson furthered the lead to 35-29.
The Cowgirls shot 44.44% from behind the arc in the second quarter, their best shooting quarter of the game.
The Spartans opened up the second half with a layup in the paint from 24, but the Cowgirls responded with a 3-point field goal from Quinn Weidemann, scoring 40-36.
“I feel like I’ve been in a bit of a slump the last couple of games,” Weidemann said. “Being able to come out here and have them fall today, that was refreshing.”
Senior Guard Quinn Weidemann took control early in the 3rd quarter. Weidemann led the Pokes in scoring with 18 points, shooting 6-9 from the field and 5-7 from behind the arc.
“I think my mindset before this game was ‘You’re a good shooter, you’re going to be fine, you’re gonna get through it,” Weidemann said. “Then I just focused on ‘Don’t think about it, just shoot the ball.’ And I think that helped a lot.”
As the third quarter came to a close, the Cowgirls led 57-44. The Cowgirls outscored the Spartans 34-19 following the first-quarter performance.
The Spartans opened up the fourth quarter with a two point layup from 35, score 57-46 Cowgirls.
Things got a bit physical and chippy in the fourth quarter, with the Cowgirls shooting from the free-throw line 10 times in the fourth quarter alone, making 80% of their shots.
As the fourth quarter came to a close, the Cowgirls had gained a significant lead on the Spartans, resulting in a final score of 75-54.
The Cowgirls look ahead to their next game on Feb. 12 against Fresno State in Fresno, California.
