SAN DIEGO – Coming off a Mountain West Tournament championship, the San Diego State women’s basketball team was picked to finish second in the Mountain West preseason poll, the conference announced Wednesday morning. This is the highest the Aztecs have been picked since the 2012-13 season.
Additionally, Kendall Mosley was named the Preseason Mountain West Freshman of the Year and Naomi Panganiban was named to the Preseason All-Mountain West Team.
Mosley, a 5’11” guard from Prosper, Texas, was named the 2024-25 6A MVP in Texas. She was also a two-time District 5-6A Offensive MVP title and a Texas Association of Basketball Coaches (TABC) 6A All-Region Team selection. As a senior she averaged 19.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game and helped Prosper High School go 25-8 and win their first district championship in seven years. In total, she scored over 1,700 points and had over 650 rebounds in her high school career.
Naomi Panganiban averaged 10.3 points per game last year, the most in the Mountain West among true freshmen. She was named to the conference’s All-Freshman Team and to the All-Tournament Team after averaging 12.3 points in the tournament. She scored 17 points on 7-for-14 shooting in SDSU’s win over Wyoming in the Championship game. Panganiban was one of just two true sophomores to be selected to the preseason team.
Over the summer, the San Diego native starred for the Philippine National Team at the FIBA Asia Cup. Despite being the youngest on the team, she tied for the team lead in scoring (13.2 ppg) and helped them clinch a spot in the FIBA World Cup Qualifying Tournament for the first time ever.
The Aztecs went 25-10 last year and won the Mountain West Tournament championship to advance to the NCAA Tournament. SDSU averaged their most points per game last season in 30 years while posting their best field goal percentage in 15 years.
SDSU’s 240 points in the preseason poll trailed only UNLV, who was tabbed as the preseason favorite and picked up 19 of the 27 first place votes.
Panganiban, sophomore guard Nat Martinez and head coach Stacie Terry-Hutson will be taking part in the Mountain West Media Day tomorrow (Oct. 23) in Las Vegas.
The Aztecs open the season Nov. 3 against No. 3 UCLA in Anaheim and the Honda Center.
2025-26 MOUNTAIN WEST PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH
|
Rank |
Team (First-Place Votes) |
Points |
|
1. |
UNLV (19) |
281 |
|
2. |
San Diego State (3) |
240 |
|
3. |
Colorado State (1) |
236 |
|
4. |
Boise State (1) |
210 |
|
5. |
New Mexico (2) |
207 |
|
6. |
Wyoming |
194 |
|
7. |
Grand Canyon (1) |
177 |
|
8. |
Air Force |
132 |
|
9. |
Fresno State |
95 |
|
10. |
Nevada |
92 |
|
11. |
Utah State |
54 |
|
12. |
San Jose State |
44 |
2025-26 PRESEASON ALL-MOUNTAIN WEST TEAM
Pos. Name Yr. Team
G Milahnie Perry Sr. AF
G Natalie Pasco Sr. BSU
F Tatum Thompson Sr. BSU
G Hannah Ronsiek Sr. CSU
G Chloe Mann So. GCU
G Destinee Hooks Jr. UNM
G Naomi Panganiban So. SDSU
G Aaliyah Alexander Gr. UNLV
F Meadow Roland So. UNLV
G Malene Pedersen Sr. WYO
Preseason Player of the Year
Tatum Thompson, Sr., F, Boise State
Preseason Freshman of the Year
Kendall Mosley, Fr., G, San Diego State
Preseason Newcomer of the Year
Chloe Mann, So., G, Grand Canyon