women’s sports

December 20, 2013

Spartan Notes: San Jose State’s Larceval wins courage award from FWAA for comeback from illness

San Jose State defensive end Anthony Larceval was picked by the Football Writers Association of America for its courage award this year, after he battled back from a viral infection that could have ended his career to play in nine games this season.

The redshirt senior was hospitalized at the end of last year with viral meningoencephalitis, and doctors told him his football career was over. He was able to battle back to play this season. He is the second San Jose State player to win the award, following Neil Parry in 2003.

He will be honored at a banquet at the Orange Bowl in January.

For more: Spartan Athletics release on Larceval’s award.

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December 18, 2013

Lou Tully, San Jose State women’s water polo coach who helped found team, dies at 70

Sad news from San Jose State on Wednesday night: Women’s water polo coach Lou Tully, the only coach that team has ever known, has died from complications relating to his cancer treatment. He was 70.

He had beaten cancer once before, having been diagnosed with it in 2008 and going into remission in 2009. He had a recurrence recently.

Tully helped found the program in the late 1990s after years coaching at different levels, including founding a club team (San Jose Splash) and a stint at Menlo Junior College in the early going.

Tully was one of several coaches who came back home to San Jose State. He played water polo for the school in the 1960s and got his master’s degree there in 1970. Unlike so many other coaches at San Jose State, he had a winning record — 250 wins, 245 losses in 16 seasons at the helm, and the Spartans were ranked in the top 10 nationally 12 times in his career, including top 5 finishes in 2001 and 2011.

To quote Spartan Athletics obituary: “Since 1999, Spartan water polo players earned 24 All-America awards and 32 Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) All-American Academic awards since 2009.”

His passing comes on the eve of the season on the eve of the season. The Spartans were set to open the season on Jan. 11 at Cal State Monterey Bay. Associate head coach Johnny Bega will likely take over the team.

December 17, 2013

Spartan Notes: San Jose State WR Jones earns honorable mention on SI all-America team

Chandler Jones turned a 15-touchdown, 79-catch season into a spot on the honorable mention list for Sports Illustrated’s All-America team, the only San Jose State player to land on the team. The Mountain West landed a slough of honorable mentions from the magazine, but no actual spots on the first or second team.

Check out the team here.

The long and short of it: David Fales got snubbed. Again.

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December 8, 2013

Spartan Notes: SJSU men’s hoops stun Houston, and MWC bowl projections

935_-mountain_west_conference-primary-2011Saturday morning, I said that what ails San Jose State basketball is an inability to move the ball and pick good shots.

Well, then.

Throw that out at least for one game. San Jose State walked away Saturday with its most impressive win of the season, rallying to beat the University of Houston 72-68 on the road.

The team’s top two recruits were the show: Rashad Muhammad, in continuing with what is becoming tradition for the Spartans, led in scoring with 21 points, including a 3-pointer in the final minutes that gave them the lead for good.

More impressive, though, is Jalen James’ triple-double, just the second in school history and third in Mountain West history. The freshman guard had 12 points, 10 assists and 13 rebounds against the Cougars on Saturday. It is the first in the conference since 2006, and first since 2001 for San Jose State.

This was a big win for the Spartans. They came back from an 11-point deficit with about eight minutes left, playing strong defense and taking advantage of Houston going cold from the field. They had 17 assists, by far the most in a game this season, and shot a season-high 48.9 percent from the field, including a 14 for 26 mark from 3-point range.

D.J. Brown added five assists and four steals in the game, and Devante Wilson had 16 points. The Spartans are off 10 days before facing UC Davis on Dec. 18.

In other San Jose State news …

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November 24, 2013

Spartan Notes: San Jose State men’s hoops wins second straight

Chris Cunningham recorded his first double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds, and the San Jose State men’s basketball team won its home opener and second straight game going away, 81-59, over Cal State Fullerton on Saturday.

The Spartans led 28-6 to open the game after Devante Wilson hit back-to-back 3-pointers, and really the team never looked back. Wilson finished with 16 points, and Rashad Muhammad and D.J. Brown each added 17 off the bench.

It’s the first 20-or-more-point win for the Spartans since they beat UC Davis in 2011 79-59.

The team is starting to figure this out earlier than expected, although they are still shooting poorly (just 37.7 percent in Saturday’s win.) It helped that the Titans shot a season low 37 percent. The Spartans also hit 11 of 28 3-pointers on Saturday, making 25 from beyond the arc in their two wins this season.

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November 21, 2013

Spartan Notes: The SJSU men’s hoops team gets into win column

san_jose_stateSan Jose State is going to do certain things that are just expected. The custom of a rebuilding season is that a team isn’t going to move the ball well, won’t shoot well, will be caught with their pants down on defense, and will lose. A lot. And it is the new coach’s job to make sure the young team learns from all of this so they get better next year.

Fans got a reprieve from the standard operating procedures of Dave Wojcik’s total rebuild, because few of those customary things actually happened Wednesday.

The Spartans (1-4) got their first win after being left for dead, as per protocol this season, trailing by 10 at halftime Wednesday against Pepperdine. They opened on a 21-10 run to open the second half, outscored the Waves by 16 points in the half to pick up their first win, on the road no less, 83-77 on Wednesday.

They shot a little better overall from the field and certain from 3-point range, played strong defense in the second half, grabbed rebounds and moved the ball some. And it all equaled a win over a decent West Coast Conference squad that entered the game undefeated (3-0).

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November 9, 2013

Spartan notes: SJSU women’s hoops takes D-II team to woodshed

Nothing like a cupcake to open the season.

The San Jose State women’s basketball team opened its season Friday with a big win over Division II San Francisco State, reaching the 100-point mark for just the fourth time in the program’s history, winning 100-78.

The most important revelation of this game? Freshman forward Jasmine Smith, who led the Spartans in points with 25 and rebounds with 11, and added four steals along the way as well.

“Jasmine played hard and got after it tonight,” said coach Jamie Craighead following the game.  “She can jump twice before her opponent jumps once.”

Junior transfer Rebecca Woodberry, in her first official game with the Spartans, had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Oregon State transfer Classye James added 20 points, and last year’s top player, Ta’Rea Cunnigan, who was a preseason all-conference selection, had 17 points, with 13 of those coming in the second half.

San Jose State’s other two freshmen added points as well, with Tualatin, Ore., native Britta Hall adding 12 points and seven assists, and Bakersfield Garces Memorial graduate Rachol West scoring seven off the bench.

If the freshmen Smith, Hall and West continue to contribute like this for the Spartans, the could be formidable this season.

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