SAN DIEGO – The Aztecs play San Jose State in the first round of the Mountain West Championships Sunday at 4:30 p.m.
Aztec Tidbits
• 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 (19-12, 10-8) finished with a winning record in conference play for the second straight season.
• SDSU is coming off a 58-55 comeback win over 3rd place Wyoming Tuesday. The Aztecs trailed by 11 points in the fourth quarter.
• Kim Villalobos scored a career-high 24 points, including 17 in the fourth quarter.
• Villalobos and Adryana 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.
• SDSU beat every Mountain West team except for first place UNLV and Nevada (who they only played once).
• The Aztecs are averaging 66.5 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 (12.7) and they are shooting 76.4% 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, the 39th fewest in the nation.
• 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 home 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 (14.0), Kim Villalobos (10.9), Jada Lewis (10.7), Abby Prohaska (10.4). 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 121 career games with 82 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 MW in free throw percentage (84.0%), while Quezada led the MW in conference play (86.0%).
• 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 53.3% from the floor, which is fourth in the MW.
• She has scored in double-digits in all but six games and has led SDSU in scoring 17 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), is 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 10 career double-doubles and six 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. She has scored in double-digits in seven of the last eight games, averaging 12.9 points in that span and shooting 47.8% from three.
• Lewis, who played her first four years at Portland State, has made 272 three-pointers in her career. The SDSU record is 249 by Jamey Cox (2000-03).
• Lewis is 89-for-101 (88.1%) from the free throw line in her career. She went 24-for-25 from the line in MW play.
• Both Lewis and Quezada have over 1,200 career points.
• Abby Prohaska (Liberty Township, Ohio) leads the Mountain West in free throw percentage (84.1%) this season. She has shot 84.4% from the line in her career and 85.3% while at SDSU.
• Prohaska is averaging career-highs in minutes, points, rebounds, assists, and steals.
• Sarah Barcello (Phoenix, Ariz.) is leading the team in minutes (30.6) in conference play.
• Barcello is averaging career-highs in minutes per game (29.9) and free throw percentage (86.1%) her three-point percentage of 34.1% is her best since her freshman year at Marist (41% in 2018-19).
• Five Aztecs are shooting 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.
• In SDSU's last game vs. Wyoming, Green scored her 500th career point.
Mountain West Tournament Notes
• The Aztecs are 18-22 all-time in the Mountain West Tournament.
• SDSU is 5-6 all-time in the first round.
• The Aztecs are 3-7 all-time as the No. 7 seed.
• SDSU is 3-0 all-time against the No. 10 seed.
• The Aztecs have won at least one game in each of the last two tournaments.
• SDSU is 0-1 all-time against San Jose State in the tournament.
Opponent Notebook (San Jose State)
• The Spartans are 7-23 overall and went 2-16 in conference, tying for 10th place.
• They have lost 14 of their last 15 games. They beat Colorado State 68-56 on March 2.
• They are 3-14 away from their home arena.
• They average 8.5 steals per game.
• They are last in the conference in turnovers per game (20.2) and three-point percentage defense (36.8%)
• Their leading scorer Jyah LoVett hasn't played since Jan. 20.
• Amhiya Moreland averages 12.2 points and shoots 55.1% from the field.
• Head coach April Phillips is in her second season at SJSU.
• The Aztecs lead the all-time series 28-10.
• The Aztecs' 73.7-win percentage against the Spartans is their best against any Mountain West school.
• SDSU has won the last five meetings and eight of the last 10.
• They have only played in the Mountain West Tournament one time, a Spartan 76-58 win in the No. 8 vs. No. 9 game in 2017.
Aztecs Play SJSU Sunday in First Round of MW Tournament
