SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State women’s basketball team hosts Grand Canyon in their first ever meeting Wednesday at 6 p.m. The game will be streamed on the Mountain West Network.
Aztec Tidbits
- SDSU has won six games in a row and are coming off a 72-55 win at Wyoming Saturday, their largest margin of victory in Laramie since 1994.
- Bailey Barnhard scored a career-high 21 points on 10-for-14 shooting. The Aztecs are the only team in the Mountain West to have had five different players have a game with 20+ points in a game this season.
- Five of their six wins during the streak have been by double-digits and the Aztecs are outscoring opponents 69-55.7 in that stretch.
- This is the fourth straight season the Aztecs have had a winning streak of six games or more.
- Dating back to last year, SDSU has won their last 12 games against Mountain West opponents, their longest streak since the 2012-13 season.
- This is the second straight season the Aztecs have won at least 10 of their first 13 games (11-2 last year).
- The Aztecs are making a Mountain West-best 8.5 three-pointers per game, which would easily top the program’s previous best of 6.8 per game. SDSU has made more threes than their opponent in all but one game.
- SDSU is shooting 48.3% on two-pointers and has an effective field goal percentage of 49.3%, both of which would be the program’s best in the Mountain West era (since 1999).
- The Aztecs average just 12.8 turnovers per game and have an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.08, these marks are also the school’s best in the Mountain West era.
- SDSU is shooting 47.5% from the floor and 40.5% from three in their four Mountain West games. Their opponents are shooting just 33.6% from the field and 24.7% from three.
- Defensively, the Aztecs have held their opponents to 37.3% shooting from the field, which is the second best in the conference. SDSU is 9-0 when holding their opponent under 70 points.
- SDSU has won all three of their road games this year and are 13-4 on the road since the beginning of last year. They are 19-7 in road or neutral games in that span.
- The Aztecs have a NET ranking of 85, the second best in the Mountain West.
- This is the first time in program history SDSU doesn’t return any scholarship upperclassman (who played last year).
- The Aztecs have seven newcomers this year, the most ever under head coach Stacie Terry-Hutson (13th season). They added five transfers with four of them coming from Mountain West schools.
- SDSU was picked to finish second in the MW Preseason poll, their highest preseason selection since 2012-13.
- The Aztecs have had a winning record in non-conference play in each of the last four years. Since the 2022-23 season, the Aztecs are 36-12 (.750) in non-conference games and 22-5 (.815) in non-conference home games.
- Entering this year, SDSU had 70 wins over the past three seasons, tied for the most in a three-year span in SDSU history (1994-96).
- SDSU has set a program record for attendance in each of the past two seasons and are on pace to break that mark again this season.
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- SDSU is 9-0 when they hold their opponent under 70 points. They have held their opponents under 40% shooting eight times and are 8-0 in those games.
- The Aztecs are 9-1 when they score 60 or more points.
- SDSU is 9-0 when they have more assists than their opponent.
- The Aztecs are 8-0 when they outrebound their opponent.
- SDSU is 8-1 when they have more steals than their opponent.
- The Aztecs are averaging 69.5 points per game, which would be their most since the 1993-94 season. Four of SDSU’s top five scoring teams in the Mountain West era (since 1999) have been in the last four years.
- SDSU has trailed at the end of the first quarter in eight of their 13 games but have won five of those eight games.
- Since the beginning of last year, SDSU is 27-2 when three or more players score in double-digits (6-0 this year).
- Since the beginning of the 2022-23 season, the Aztecs are 68-11 (.861) when they score 60 or more and 44-6 (.880) when they score 70 or more.
- Since the beginning of the 2022-23 season, SDSU is 43-13 (.768) in home games.
Player Notes
Bailey Barnhard (Sophomore, Forward, San Diego, Calif.)
- Bailey Barnhard scored a career-high 21 points on 10-for-14 shooting at Wyoming Saturday.
- She is second on the team in scoring in conference play (10.3 points per game).
Naomi Panganiban (Sophomore, Guard, San Diego, Calif.)
- Naomi Panganiban has scored 10 or more points in all but three games, the most on the team.
- In conference play, she is shooting 52.6% from the field and 42.9% from three.
- She is 24-for-26 on free throws this year (92.3%).
- She has improved in every statistical category from last year when she was named to the Mountain West All-Freshman Team and to the Mountain West All-Tournament Team.
- Panganiban was named to the preseason All-Mountain West Team.
- Her 10.3 points per game led all Mountain West true freshmen last season.
- Playing for the Philippine National Team at the FIBA Asia Cup, she tied for the team lead in scoring (13.2 ppg) despite being the youngest on the team.
- The Philippines clinched a spot in the FIBA World Cup Qualifying Tournament for the first time ever.
Nat Martinez (Sophomore, Guard, San Leandro, Calif.)
- Nat Martinez is second in the Mountain West among qualified players in free throw percentage (83.3%).
- She won Mountain West Player of the Week after scoring 22 points at Kansas State prior to the holiday break. She tied a career-high with six three-pointers.
- It was her third time scoring 20 or more points against a power conference school, and fifth time overall in her career.
- In her five games against power conference schools, she is averaging 17.0 points per game shooting 55% from the field and 58% from three.
- She shot 41.9% from three last year, the fifth best in a single season in program history.
- She was named to the Mountain West All-Freshman Team a year ago.
Nala Williams (Senior, Guard, Long Beach, Calif.)
- Nala Williams’ 1.87 assist-to-turnover ratio is second in the Mountain West among qualified players.
- In her career, she has 1,600 points, 560 rebounds, 381 assists and 324 steals in 105 games.
- Her 324 career steals are the sixth most in the nation across all divisions among active players.
- She has scored in double-digits in 81 of her 105 career games and has scored 20 or more 30 times. Her career-high is 42.
- Against Cal State Bakersfield Nov. 15, she became the first Aztec in the Mountain West era (since 1999) to have at least 25 points, 10 rebounds and three three-pointers in a game.
- Last year at Cal State Dominguez Hills, Nala Williams was named the DII National Player of the Year and the National Defensive Player of the Year after helping her school go 36-2 and make the national title game.
- She had 152 steals last year (4.0/game), which was the most in the nation across all divisions. No one else had more than 140 steals and only three other players had 130 or more.
Kennedy Lee (RS Junior, Forward, Louisville, Ky.)
- She set career highs for points (24) and three-pointers (7) vs. CSUN (11-13).
- Her seven made 3-pointers tied for the second most ever made by an Aztec.
Kendal Mosley (Freshman, Guard, Prosper, Texas)
- Kendal Mosley is 8-for-15 from three (53%) on the year.
- She was named the preseason Mountain West Freshman of the Year.
Opponent Notebook (Grand Canyon)
- The ‘Lopes are 3-11 on the year, 2-2 in the Mountain West and 2-4 on the road.
- Despite having just three wins, they have the fifth highest NET ranking in the Mountain West. They played four games against power conference schools (1-3)
- Last year they went 32-3 and a perfect 16-0 in the WAC and made the NCAA tournament.
- Opponents are shooting 45 percent from the field against them and scoring 70.1 points per game.
- Chloe Mann leads the team with 14.7 points per game.
- Aztec assistant Gregg Gottlieb was an assistant at GCU from 2020-23.
- Head coach Winston Gandy is in his first season at GCU. He was most recently an assistant at South Carolina.
- This is the first meeting between these two schools.