SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State women’s basketball team (22-4, 16-1) clinched at least a share of the Mountain West regular season championship with a 68-59 win over Fresno State (14-14, 8-9) inside Viejas Arena Saturday afternoon. The Aztecs improved to 16-1 in Mountain West play, setting a new program record for conference wins in a season.
“I’m a little emotional in the sense that I’m so proud of our staff, our support staff and the young women that are in this program,” Head coach Stacie Terry-Hutson said after the game. “I’m proud of how they sacrificed for the team goals.”
SDSU led for most of the game and took a 14-point lead midway through the fourth quarter only to see the Bulldogs cut it to five before finishing them off.
As usual, the Aztecs had balanced scoring with five players scoring between nine and 14 points. Nala Williams stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals. Kaelyn Hamilton strengthened her case for Sixth Player of the Year with 11 points, nine of which came in the second half. Nat Martinez had 10 points despite being limited to four minutes in the first half due to foul trouble. Kennedy Lee and Naomi Panganiban each scored nine.
The game got off to a slow start with the first quarter featuring 12 fouls and just nine field goals. SDSU held a four-point lead at the halftime break and then went up eight early in the third quarter, only to see the Bulldogs go on an 8-0 run to tie the game.
STAT OF THE GAME
SDSU shot 48 percent from the field in the second half while holding Fresno State to 37 percent shooting.
THE NOTE
The Aztecs were presented with the championship trophy and cut down nets after the game.
QUOTE OF THE GAME
“We are happy today, but it’s not enough. We want to make sure that we continue to play at the standard we’ve set for ourselves throughout the season. We are happy to be a champion, but we don’t want to share [the title], so we’ve got to keep winning.” Head coach Stacie Terry-Hutson
UP NEXT
The Aztecs play at Boise State Wednesday evening.