SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State women’s basketball team hosts Fresno State Saturday at 1 p.m.
Aztec Tidbits
- SDSU can clinch at least a share of the Mountain West regular season championship with a win.
- It would be the Aztecs’ sixth ever regular season championship (fourth in the Mountain West) and first since 2012-13. SDSU won the Mountain West Tournament championship last season.
- SDSU beat second place UNLV 80-62 Wednesday night, their fourth beating the Rebels in the last two seasons.
- All five Aztec starters scored in double-digits and SDSU had 18 offensive rebounds, which led to 18 second chance points, their most vs. a DI opponent this season.
- Head coach Stacie Terry-Hutson won her 200th career game on Wednesday. Since the start of the 2022-23 season, she has led the Aztecs to a 91-38 (.705) record and is 45-14 (.763) since the beginning of last year.
- SDSU is 21-4, their best start since the 1993-94 season (also 21-4). This is the fourth straight season the Aztecs won at least 20 wins. The Aztecs have only accomplished this once before (1994-97).
- The Aztecs have won 23 of their last 24 games against conference opponents.
- SDSU is committing 12.5 turnovers per game, which would be a school record and is 14th in the country.
- The Aztecs are averaging 70.6 points per game, which would be the highest since the 1993-94 season. The Aztecs are shooting 49.3% on two-pointers, also their best since 1993-94.
- SDSU is making a Mountain West-best 8.4 three-pointers per game, which would easily set a program record. The Aztecs have made more threes than their opponent in 21 of their 25 games and have 10 games with 10 or more three-pointers. The Aztecs made 10+ threes just eight times across the previous three seasons.
- The Aztecs lead the Mountain West in three-point percentage (38.1%), field goal percentage offense (45.9%) and defense (37.3%) in conference play.
- SDSU also leads the conference in defensive rebounds per game (28.8) and defensive rebound percentage (76.3%) in Mountain West competition.
- The Aztecs are 8-1 on the road this year and are 18-5 on the road since the beginning of last year. Their 88.9 win percentage on the road would tie a program record.
- As of Thursday, SDSU has a season-high NET ranking of 69. SDSU is 2-1 in Quad one or two games.
- The Aztecs are currently predicted as a No. 12 seed in the NCAA tournament by ESPN (Charlie Creme) and the NCAA (Autumn Johnson). The top 12 seeds avoid playing a true road game in the first round.
- This is the first time in program history SDSU didn’t return any scholarship upperclassman (who played last year). Six of the Aztecs’ nine rotation players are sophomores.
- SDSU has 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.
- The Aztecs set a single game record vs. New Mexico Jan. 14 with 8,054 fans in attendance.
- SDSU has 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.
- 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 was picked to finish second in the Mountain West Preseason poll, their highest preseason selection since 2012-13.
Trending...
- SDSU is 19-1 when they hold their opponent under 70 points. They have held their opponents under 40% shooting 16 times and are 16-0 in those games.
- The Aztecs are 19-1 when they score 60 or more points. They are also 19-1 when they shoot at least 40% from the field.
- SDSU is 19-0 when they have more assists than their opponent.
- The Aztecs are 15-0 when they outrebound their opponent.
- SDSU is 14-1 when they have more paint points than their opponent.
- The Aztecs are 19-0 when they lead at halftime and are 4-0 in games decided by five points or less.
- SDSU is 16-2 when they have fewer turnovers, or the same amount, as their opponent.
- The Aztecs are averaging 70.4 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.
- Since the beginning of last year, SDSU is 35-2 when three or more players score in double-digits (14-0 this year).
- No Aztec averages more than 30 minutes per game and all five starters have had a game with 20 or more points. 10 different Aztecs have had a game with 10+ points.
- Since the beginning of the 2022-23 season, the Aztecs are 78-11 (.876) when they score 60 or more (19-1 this year) and 51-6 (.895) when they score 70 or more (14-0 this year).
- Since the beginning of the 2022-23 season, SDSU is 49-13 (.790) in home games (12-1 this year).
Player Notes
Nala Williams (Senior, Guard, Long Beach, Calif.)
- Nala Williams’ assist-to-turnover of 2.38 is the best by an Aztec in the Mountain West era (since 1999), leads the conference and is 14th in the nation among qualified players.
- In her career, she has 1,720 points, 615 rebounds, 431 assists and 343 steals in 116 games. She is the only player in the nation with at least 1,700 points, 600 rebounds, 400 assists and 340 steals (across all divisions).
- She leads the Mountain West in assists per game (4.1) in conference play.
- Williams is shooting 47.0% from the field and 42.2% from three in conference play.
- Her 343 career steals are the eighth most in the nation across all divisions among active players.
- She has scored double-digits in 89 of her 116 career games and has scored 20 or more 31 times. Her career-high is 42.
- She had 20 points, 10 assists and no turnovers vs. San Jose State on Jan. 24 to become the first Aztec in the Mountain West era (since 1999) to put up that stat line.
- She won Mountain West Player of the Week after that performance, her eighth time winning a conference player of the week award (seven times with Cal State Dominguez Hills)
- 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.
Naomi Panganiban (Sophomore, Guard, San Diego, Calif.)
- Naomi Panganiban has scored 10+ points in 19 of SDSU’s 25 games.
- She scored 20 points in both games against second place UNLV and is averaging 16.0 points per game against the top four teams in the conference.
- 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 after leading all Mountain West true freshmen in scoring last season (10.3 ppg).
- 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 in free throw percentage (84.0%) among qualified players.
- She is averaging 17.6 points per game this season when playing a power-four program or UNLV.
- In her five career games against power-four programs, she is averaging 17.0 points per game shooting 55% from the field and 58% from three.
- She was named to the Mountain West All-Freshman Team a year ago and shot 41.9% from three, the fifth best in a single season in program history.
Bailey Barnhard (Sophomore, Forward, San Diego, Calif.)
- Bailey Barnhard is shooting 54% from the field and 52% (11-for-21) from three in conference play.
Kennedy Lee (RS Junior, Forward, Louisville, Ky.)
- Kennedy Lee has two games this year making 5+ threes. Her seven made 3-pointers vs. CSUN tied for the second most ever made by an Aztec.
Kaelyn Hamilton (Sophomore, Guard, McKinney, Texas)
- Kaelyn Hamilton is shooting 50% from the field in conference play.
- She has scored in double-digits in four of her last seven games and matched her career-high of 15 twice in that span.
Opponent Notebook (Fresno State)
- The Bulldogs are 14-13 on the year, 8-8 in conference and 4-9 on the road.
- They have won four games in a row with an average margin of victory of 19.8 points.
- They are holding opponents to 58.9 points per game and forcing 19.3 turnovers per game, the most in the Mountain West.
- Emilia Long leads the conference in steals and is second in assists. She averages a team-high 13.4 points per game.
- Head coach Ryan McCarthy is in his first year at Fresno State. He spent the previous 13 seasons at Alaska Anchorage where he went 309-67 (.822).
Series History
- San Diego State leads the all-time series 35-25.
- The Aztecs have won the last seven meetings, outscoring the Bulldogs by an average of 10 points in those games.
- SDSU is 18-11 all-time vs Fresno State at home.