San Jose-After trailing at halftime by seven, the San Jose State women's basketball team came out of the locker room and shot a blistering 78.3 percent from the field to defeat San Francisco, 63-51, Tuesday night at The Event Center.

The Spartans (1-3)  trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half and by seven at 29-22 at the break.  The team then came out and held the Dons (2-2) without a basketball for the first 6:11 of the second half.  During that time, the Spartans went on a 10-2 run to take the lead at 32-31 on a fastbreak layup by Alisha Eckberg from Sayja Sumler at the 14:24 mark.

USF took a brief lead at 34-32 on a made three-pointer by Vania Singleterry, but the Spartans tied the game on two of Chasity Shavers' 17 points on the night.  The Spartans then took the lead for good on a Samantha Marez layup at 12:26.

During the run to take the lead for good, bench scoring was key for San Jose State.  Eckberg came off the bench to score seven points including two key layups and made three-pointer.  Marez also scored four of her eight points on the night.

For the game, San Jose State shot 61.9 percent from the field (26-42) including 18-of-23 in the second half.  The Spartans held the Dons to just 26.8 percent from the field (15-56) which includes 22.2 percent in the second half (6-27).

"This was an awesome win for our team, and we got the "monkey" off of our back," said San Jose State head coach Pam DeCosta.  "This team showed they are resilient by coming back from 15 down.  We are finally learning from our mistakes in past games.

"Our defense effort was outstanding, especially late in the first half and the entire second half.  At halftime, we sensed that USF was tiring, so we told them we were going to run in the second half.  The players responded, and we played well."

Shavers again led the Spartans for the fourth consecutive game with 17 points and grabbed six rebounds in the victory.  Palagi Atoe added 11 points, while Marnesha Hall scored nine.  Sumler had a team-best seven assists to go with two points and two steals, while Shaunna Ridge grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds and scored seven points.

Coming off the bench, Marez scored eight points, followed by Eckberg with seven.  Rachel Finnegan dished out four assists in the game. 

"Our bench really stepped it up," said DeCosta.  "They were a big reason for our comeback in the second half.  Rachel did a really nice job, while Alisha and Sam hit key baskets for us when we were making our run."

The win ended San Jose State's 17-game losing streak, dating back to January of 2009.  The last win for the team came against Hawaii on January 10 of this year.

San Jose State now travels to the Florida Atlantic/Boca Bridge Hotel Holiday Tournament this weekend.  The team plays Mississippi Friday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. EST/1:00 p.m. PST, followed by the consolation and championship games Saturday at 2 and 4 p.m. EST/11 a.m. and 1 p.m. PST.

SAN JOSE STATE 63, SAN FRANCISCO 51

SAN FRANCISCO (2-2)

Ale, Rheina 6-17 4-4 17; Singleterry, Vania 3-11 5-6 13; Taylor, Donnisha 2-6 4-4 8; Keating, Katy 1-2 2-2 4; Anton, Heidi 1-2 0-0 3; Boggs, Ashley 1-9 0-0 2; Khlok, Mel 0-3 2-2 2; Brumfield, Brittany 1-2 0-0 2; Barbour, Bailey 0-0 0-0 0; Drexler, Tawny 0-2 0-0 0; Okereke, Nnenna 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 15-56 17-18 51.

SAN JOSE STATE (1-3)

Shavers, Chasity 6-8 5-8 17; Atoe, Palagi 5-6 0-0 11; Hall, Marnesha 3-4 2-2 9; Marez, Samantha 4-8 0-0 8; Ridge, Shaunna 3-5 1-2 7; Eckberg, Alisha 3-3 0-0 7; Sumler, Sayja 1-5 0-0 2; Bradley, Britney 1-2 0-0 2; Hamilton, Dominique 0-0 0-0 0; Finnegan, Rachel 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-42 8-12 63.

San Francisco.................   29   22  -   51

San Jose State................   22   41  -   63

3-point goals--San Francisco 4-16 (Singleterry, Vania 2-2; Anton, Heidi 1-2; Ale, Rheina 1-8; Boggs, Ashley 0-3; Keating, Katy 0-1), San Jose State 3-5 (Hall, Marnesha 1-1; Eckberg, Alisha 1-1; Atoe, Palagi 1-1; Ridge, Shaunna 0-1; Marez, Samantha 0-1). Fouled out--San Francisco-None, San Jose State-None. Rebounds--San Francisco 30 (Singleterry, Vania 5), San Jose State 23 (Ridge, Shaunna 10). Assists--San Francisco 9 (Singleterry, Vania 2), San Jose State 15 (Sumler, Sayja 7). Total fouls--San Francisco 17, San Jose State 15. Technical fouls--San Francisco-None, San Jose State-None. A-309.

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