San Diego State women’s basketball hosted No. 3 Stanford Friday morning at Viejas Arena, where the Cardinal beat the Aztecs 85-44.
This is the first time the Aztecs (4-4) have hosted a top-three opponent since the No. 2 UConn visited the Mesa on Dec. 21, 2007, in which the Aztecs lost 85-53.
The Aztecs welcomed multiple San Diego County schools for field trip day, with an attendance of 3,708.
Starting from tip-off, Stanford (8-0) took the lead and controlled the whole match at their speed. The Aztecs faced multiple obstacles with a huge one being the height difference.
Cardinal forward Cameron Brink is 6’4”, was a McDonald’s All-American out of high school who ranked no. 3 in her class by ESPN and is a two-time All-American.
Additionally, 6’3” Cardinal forward Kiki Iriafen was also named a McDonald’s All-American. Both dominated the paint offensively and defensively, earning 31 points and 23 rebounds combined while Brink had three blocks.
The Aztecs’ forwards Kim Villalobos (6’0”) and Adryana Quezada (5’10”) had 22 points combined.
“No single person can guard (Brink) so we had two (Aztecs) on her the majority of the time,” said head coach Stacie Terry-Hutson.
“What we should have done a better job of is having all five of our (players) crash. I don’t think one single person could box out those two (Iriafen and Brink) because they are so gifted physically and athletically — if we go back and watch film, I think we can make some adjustments to get better at rebounding.”
Guard Abby Prohaska finished with six points, four rebounds, two assists and one steal. She mentioned what went wrong with their performance against the Cardinal.
“We just didn’t stick to the game plan,” Prohska said. “On some things, they got a lot of second chances on the rebounds. I feel like if we really cut that short in the beginning it really would have been a game… shots just weren’t hitting.”
With seven new players and seven returning players, Terry-Hutson mentioned the dynamic this year’s Aztecs team has.
“Throwing them off to the mix, we’ve had some injuries,” Terry-Hutson said. “With three of our young ladies out that were expected to play, some people have been thrust into some new positions and had to learn a different position than they’ve used to.”
Despite having to step into new roles, Terry-Hutson has been pleased with the progress.
“They’ve really tried to step up in their different roles, and the cohesiveness has been really good,” she said. “We just hope that you know, they can continue to grow and continue to fight even through some of the growing pains.”
Prohaska mentioned that they have to step up their rebounding in the next game.
“Definitely rebounding, that’s been a weakness of ours,” Prohaska said. “We’re really undersized this year.Just making an emphasis on putting a body on someone and pushing them back. Having that toughness on defense… putting together a really good 40 to 40 minute game.”
The Aztecs will continue their home stand on Monday, Dec. 4 when they take on Cal State LA at 6 p.m. at Viejas Arena.
