Women's Basketball

Aztecs vs. UNLV for Mountain West Championship

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LAS VEGAS – The Aztecs play No. 21/19 UNLV, the regular season champion, in the Mountain West Championship Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
 
Aztec Tidbits
• SDSU beat Boise State in the semifinals 72-69 Tuesday evening.
• The Aztecs were led by Adryana Quezada's season-high 26 points, the highest total by an Aztec in a tournament game since 2010 (Jene Morris).
• Quezada was 8-for-11 from the field and 10-for-12 from the line. She became just the second Aztec in the Mountain West era (25 years) to score at least 25 points while attempting 11 or fewer field goals.
• SDSU forced 20 Boise State turnovers and committed just nine.
• This is the Aztecs' sixth time in the Mountain West Championship and first time since 2013.
• The Aztecs are seeking their first championship and NCAA appearance since 2012.
• Prior to Tuesday's win, the Aztecs beat the No. 2 seed New Mexico in the quarterfinals and the No. 10 seed San Jose State in the first round.
• Four Aztecs are averaging double-digits points in the Mountain West Tournament: Quezada (16.0), Villalobos (11.3), Abby Prohaska (11.0) and Jada Lewis (10.7).
• Against New Mexico, Kim Villalobos had 12 points, 14 rebounds (tied career-high) and six assists. She became just the second Aztec ever to have at least 12 points, 14 rebounds and six assists in a Mountain West Tournament game (Chelsea Hopkins).
• SDSU finished in a four-way tie for fourth place with Nevada, Colorado State and Boise State, but fell to the No. 7 seed due to tiebreakers. It's the second straight season the Aztecs have slipped two or more spots in seeding due to tiebreakers. Last year, SDSU tied for third, but received the No. 5 seed.
• The Aztecs have won 20 games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons.
Abby Prohaska and Adryana Quezada were named to the All-Mountain West Team and Kim Villalobos was an honorable mention selection. The Aztecs were one of two teams to have three players honored (UNLV).
• Villalobos and Quezada announced that they will return for the 2024-25 season, utilizing their extra year of eligibility offered by the NCAA due to COVID-19.
• The Aztecs are averaging 66.8 points per game, their highest since the 2012-13 season and their second highest total in the Mountain West era (25 years).
• SDSU leads the Mountain West in free throws made per game (12.8) and they are shooting 75.4% from the line, the program's best in the Mountain West era (25 years). Four starters are shooting at least 80% from the charity stripe.
• The Aztecs are averaging just 13.4 turnovers per game.
• SDSU went 8-1 at home in conference play and 12-4 overall after going 15-3 in Viejas Arena last year. SDSU's 27 wins over the last two years is the second-most in a two-year span in program history.
• The Aztecs have four players averaging at least 10 points per game: Adryana Quezada (14.1), Kim Villalobos (11.0), Jada Lewis (10.7), Abby Prohaska (10.1). All four are in the top 20 in the Mountain West in scoring.
• The Aztecs have had 10 different players score in double-digits this year.
• SDSU's typical starting lineup features two sixth-year seniors (Barcello and Prohaska), two fifth-year seniors (Lewis and Quezada) and a fourth-year senior (Villalobos). That group averages 123 career games with 84 starts and is believed to be the most experienced starting five in the nation.
Adryana Quezada is one of six players in the nation to have at least 1,200 points, 600 rebounds and 100 assists in their career while averaging at least 14.0 points per game and shooting at least 52% from the field.
Abby Prohaska leads the Mountain West in free throw percentage (84.3%), while Quezada led the Mountain West in conference play (86.0%).
Jada Lewis' 73 three-pointers are the fourth most in a season in school history.
Kim Villalobos is three points away from 1,000 in her career.
• The Aztecs finished with a winning record in conference play for the second straight season.
• Over the last two seasons, the Aztecs are 27-7 at home and 19-7 in non-conference games.
• SDSU won at least nine non-conference games for the second season in a row. It's also the first time they've done that in back-to-back seasons since 2011-12 and 2012-13.
• All four of SDSU's 2024 recruits were nominated for the McDonald's All-American game: guards Kaelyn Hamilton (McKinney, Texas), Natalia Martinez (San Leandro, Calif.) and Naomi Panganiban (La Jolla, Calif.) and forward Bailey Barnhard (San Diego).
• SDSU has gone to overtime four times this season, tied for the most in program history. They didn't go to OT once last season.
 
Player Notes
Adryana Quezada (Frisco, Texas) is shooting a career-high 53.4% from the floor, which is fourth in the MW.
• Quezada surpassed 1,300 points for her career Tuesday evening.
• She has scored in double-digits in all but seven games and has led SDSU in scoring 19 times.
• Against Penn, she became the first Aztec since 2020, and just seventh in the Mountain West era, to have at least 20 points, nine rebounds and five assists in a game. Out of those seven, Quezada accomplished the feat in the fewest number of minutes.
• In conference play, Kim Villalobos (Los Angeles), tied for third in steals (1.7 spg) in the Mountain West, tied for sixth in rebounding (7.2 rpg) and ninth in blocks (0.9 bpg). She is the only player in the conference in the top 10 in all three categories.
• Villalobos is the first post player to lead SDSU in steals since Khristina Hunter in the 2014-15 season.
• Against Utah State earlier this month, Villalobos became just the fifth Aztec ever to have at least eight rebounds, six assists and three steals in a Mountain West game.
• Villalobos has 11 career double-doubles and seven of them have happened since the beginning of conference play.
• Villalobos stuffed the stat sheet vs. Westcliff earlier this year and became just the second Aztec in the Mountain West era (1999-present) to have at least 15 points, seven rebounds, six steals and five assists in a game, joining SDSU Hall of Famer Jené Morris.
• Both Quezada and Villalobos have over 600 career rebounds.
Jada Lewis (Rocklin, Calif.) is making 2.1 three-pointers per game, fourth in the Mountain West.
• Lewis, who played her first four years at Portland State, has made 279 three-pointers in her career. The SDSU record is 249 by Jamey Cox (2000-03).
• Lewis is 90-for-103 (87.4%) from the free throw line in her career. She went 24-for-25 from the line in MW play.
• Lewis has over 1,200 career points.
Abby Prohaska (Liberty Township, Ohio) leads the Mountain West in free throw percentage (84.7%) this season. She has shot 84.5% from the line in her career and 85.4% while at SDSU.
• Prohaska is averaging career-highs in minutes, points, rebounds, assists, and steals.
Sarah Barcello (Phoenix, Ariz.) led the team in minutes (30.6) in conference play.
• Barcello recorded her 100th career steal vs. New Mexico Monday.
• Barcello is averaging career-highs in minutes per game (29.7) and free throw percentage (86.1%) her three-point percentage of 36.7% is her best since her freshman year at Marist (41% in 2018-19).
• Five Aztecs shot at least 35% from three in conference play: Quezada (53.3%), Alyssa Jackson (47.4%) Mia Davis (39.0%), Lewis (36.6%) and Barcello (35.0%).
• Against Utah State last month, Mia Davis (Phoenix, Ariz.) became just the second Aztec freshman in the Mountain West era (1999-2024) to make five or more threes in a half.
Jazlen Green (Upland, Calif.) joined the Aztecs after the semester break. She averaged 9.1 points and made 97 threes in 51 games at Cal.
 
Mountain West Tournament Notes
• The Aztecs are 21-22 all-time in the Mountain West Tournament.
• SDSU is 2-3 all-time in the finals.
• The Aztecs are seeking their first championship since 2012.
• SDSU is 1-1 all-time vs UNLV in the Mountain West tournament. The Rebels beat the Aztecs 71-68 in the semifinals last year.
• The Aztecs are 6-7 all-time as the No. 7 seed.
• SDSU is 0-4 all-time against the No. 1 seed.
 
Opponent Notebook (UNLV)
• The Rebels went 29-2 overall and 17-1 in conference.
• They are ranked No. 21 in the AP poll and No. 19 in the Coaches poll.
• They are 12-1 at home.
• Their NET ranking of 25, is the second highest among mid-major programs.
• They are 60-5 over the past two seasons.
• They are top 10 in the nation in turnovers per game (10.5), rebound margin (+10.1), assist-to-turnover ratio (+1.49) and scoring margin (+21.5).
• They are scoring 80.2 points per game (15th in the nation).
• Desi-Rae Young is averaging 17.9 points on 56% shooting and brings in 9.0 rebounds per game.
• Head coach Lindy La Rocque (4th Year) is a two-time Mountain West Coach of the Year.
• UNLV leads the all-time series 40-28.
• The Rebels have won the last nine meetings and 14 of the last 15.
• Six of the last seven meetings have been decided by single-digits.