RENO - San Jose State used defense and the inside scoring of Amber Jackson and Lamisha Augustine to knock off Tulsa 63-60 in a WAC Tournament quarterfinal game Wednesday night at Lawlor Events Center.
The win was San Jose's third over Tulsa this season, upping the Spartans' record to 18-11. San Jose, which reached the semifinals of a conference tournament for the first time in school history, meets the Rice-Nevada winner Friday at 2:30 in the semifinals. Tulsa ends its season at 19-10.
"What an exciting game," SJSU coach Janice Richard said. "We were down by nine. What a great effort by our kids. We toughened up our defense in the second half.
"They shot 22 percent (in the second half). The defense was great. Nico Gemo (6-4 center) did a great job on (Jillian) Robbins (2 for 9 floor). Anytime you can hold her to five points ... We studied so much film. She's a great player. We thought if we sat on her right hand and take that away we'd be OK."
Robbins credited the Spartans' defense with a job well done.
"San Jose took away all of my angles and I wasn't able to hit any shots," Robbins said. "They played off of me and made me take jumpers."
Trailing 40-31, San Jose went on a 23-11 run to take a 54-51 lead with 3:23 left in the game. The Spartans never trailed again, though Tulsa cut it to 54-53 and 61-60.
After Tulsa cut it to 54-53, Jackson scored with 2:23 left, and Erica McGlaston, who transferred from Nevada to SJSU two years ago, hit a single free throw to make it 57-53 with a single free throw. Tandem Mays (10 points) made it 57-55 with a driving layup. A free throw by Augustine (19 points) and two by Lindsay Harris (7 points) made it 60-55 with 34.2 left.
Megan Moody drained a three from the left side to make it 60-58 with 24.4 remaining. Another free throw by McGlaston made it 61-58. Becky Heidotten (10 points) scored on a layup with 11.5 left, cutting the lead to 61-60. Harris drained two more foul shots to make it 63-60 with 11.5.
Moody threw up an off-balance three with 3.6 left, and the Spartans scooped up the rebound.
McGlaston finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds for her first career double-double.