SAN DIEGO – The Aztecs kick off the 2024-25 season Monday when they host Cal State San Marcos at 6 p.m. inside Viejas Arena.
Aztec Tidbits
- SDSU went 22-13 last year and advanced to their first Mountain West Championship game in 10 years.
- The Aztecs have combined to win 45 games over the past two seasons.
- SDSU has won 27 home games over the last two years, the second-most in a two-year span in school history.
- The Aztecs have seven players in their fourth year or later and four in the fifth year or later (Fiso, Green, Quezada and Villalobos).
- SDSU was one of 21 schools (6%) that didn’t lose any players to the transfer portal.
- The Aztecs were picked to finish fifth in the Mountain West preseason poll.
- Adryana Quezada was on the preseason All-Mountain West team. She averaged a team-high 14.0 points per game last year and became the first Aztec in the Mountain West era (25 years) to shoot at least 50% from the field and 80% from the line.
- SDSU also returns Kim Villalobos, a Mountain West honorable mention selection last season. She became the second Aztec in the Mountain West era (25 years) to have at least 300 points, 200 rebounds, 75 assists and 50 steals in a season. She was the only player in the conference to finish in the top 10 in rebounds, assists and steals.
- Both Quezada and Villalobos have over 1,000 career points and 600 career rebounds. Quezada has scored 1,314 points and collected 644 rebounds (14.3 and 7.0 per game). Villalobos has 1,003 points and 648 rebounds.
- The Aztecs have six newcomers, led by transfers Veronica Sheffey (San Diego) and Cali Clark (Colorado State). Sheffey, a point guard, was an All-WCC Second Team selection last year and Clark, a 6’3” forward, appeared in over 100 games at Colorado State.
- SDSU also returns Erin Houpt and Trinity Zamora, who both missed all last year with injury. Houpt, a Mercer transfer, has a career three-point percentage of 41.2% and averaged 12.6 points in 2022-23 while leading the nation in free-throw percentage (93.9). Zamora was the 2023-24 Mountain West Preseason Co-Freshman of the Year.
- The Aztecs have four true freshmen, including two from San Diego: F Bailey Barnhard (San Diego), Kaelyn Hamilton (McKinney, Texas), Natalia Martinez (San Leandro, Calif.) and Naomi Panganiban (San Diego).
- SDSU set a program record for attendance last year.
- The Aztecs non-conference schedule features six games against teams that won 20 or more games a year ago, and four against schools that made the postseason.
- SDSU is playing in the Cancun Challenge over Thanksgiving where they will play Wisconsin, VCU and Providence.
- This is head coach Stacie Terry-Hutson’s 12th season as San Diego State’s head coach.
Opponent Notebook (Cal State San Marcos)
- The Cougars went 27-7 last year and advanced to the DII Elite Eight and finished the season No. 5 in the country.
- They have made four consecutive NCAA West Regional appearances.
- This is also their season opener, although the game counts as an exhibition for them.
- Head coach Jana Pearson is in her first season as the Cougars’ head coach. She has been an assistant at Westmont College for the last three seasons.
- Pearson replaces Renee Jimenez who is now the head coach at UC Santa Barbara.
- This is the first regular season meeting between the two programs.