Weber State women’s basketball can’t finish rally in 56-53 loss at San Diego
Weber State women’s basketball is still searching for the first win of the Jenteal Jackson era and has lost nine consecutive games dating back to last season after falling 56-53 to San Diego on Friday afternoon in the first of two games WSU is playing at the USD-hosted, four-team event.
The Wildcats (0-5) nearly took a tie into halftime before committing a foul for an and-one just before the break, three of 17 points for San Diego’s Veronica Sheffey.
That led to a 10-point deficit after three quarters when the Toreros (3-2) won the third frame 15-8 and held the Wildcats to 2-of-14 shooting.
San Diego stretched that to 12 points to start the fourth before Weber State answered with an 11-3 run. Jadyn Matthews started the run with a bucket and a 3-pointer, scoring seven of her game-high 18 points in the final quarter. Kendra Parra and Kaiija Lesane each scored in the paint to cap the rally, cutting USD’s lead to 50-48 with 1:42 left.
The teams traded baskets before a potential game-tying 3 from Matthews rolled out. After a pair of Toreros free throws, Parra scored an old-fashioned three-point play to make it 55-53 with 9 seconds left.
After a foul, WSU got the free-throw miss it needed but, with three seconds left, a Parra 3-pointer hit front rim, backboard, front rim and fell out, and San Diego held on for the 56-53 win.
Amelia Raidaveta totaled 10 points for Weber State. Matthews and Raidaveta combined to shoot 12 of 21 from the field while the rest of the Wildcats were 10 of 39.
WSU plays UNLV or UC Santa Barbara on Saturday to finish the trip to San Diego.