Following a gut-wrenching loss in Nevada, San Diego State’s women’s basketball team responded with a strong collective effort and a season-high in points.
The Aztecs (17-10, 8-6 Mountain West) comfortably defeated the Utah State Aggies (4-21, 1-13), 90-62 on Saturday afternoon at Viejas Arena.
Last week, the Aztecs trailed by as much as 16 points against the Wolf Pack. Against the Aggies, they led by as much as 28.
Mia Davis, who scored a season-high 18 points off the bench against Utah on Jan. 24, led the team in scoring with 17 points including three 3-pointers. She contributed nearly half of SDSU’s 36 bench points, compared to Utah State’s 21.
Davis noted a change in how the team prepared for their second meeting against the Aggies and the first game since their road game in Reno.
“Coming off a loss, we had a little chip on our shoulder.”Davis said. “We definitely wanted this one really bad if you could tell.”
Fans at Viejas Arena could certainly tell, as the Aztecs shot 53.1% from the field and held Utah State to 31.7% shooting. They dominated the boards too, grabbing 49 rebounds while only allowing 29 by Utah State.
SDSU scored the first nine points of the game and never relinquished the lead.
Their success was a team effort, with five players — forward Adryana Quezada and guards Davis, Abby Prohaska, Jada Lewis and Alyssa Jackson — contributing double-digit points. During the fourth quarter, head coach Stacie Terry-Hutson relied on her bench to finish the job.
“The starters really set the tone for the game, went in and did what they needed to do — so everybody got an opportunity,” Davis said. “And I think we were just having fun. Basketball is all about having fun at the end of the day.”
SDSU held a 46-32 lead at the half, thanks to a strong presence in the paint and efficient ball movement. Prohaska set the tone in the second half by nailing a 3-pointer in the first minute. For the rest of the half, SDSU maintained a similar lead of 44-30.
There were plenty of memorable moments, including a behind-the-back assist from forward Kim Villalobos to guard Khylee Pepe and a fast break pass from Davis to Lewis to pad their lead. Villalobos commanded the court with six assists to go along with eight rebounds.
Terry-Hutson said that she was happy with how the team distributed the ball and looked out for each other throughout the game.
“When I recruit these young women, I tell them that I would rather have five people in double-figures than one kid shooting the ball every time,” Terry-Hutson said. “So they know that sharing is important to me, and when our assists are up, so are the win columns.”
Terry-Hutson and the team now shift their focus to their next four games in a competitive Mountain West race, where they trail Nevada and Boise State by less than a game. Going into the final stretch of the season, she said improving the defense will be the team’s primary focus.
“Our goal ultimately is to win a Mountain West Conference championship and in order to do that, you got to play some defense,” Terry-Hutson said. “There’s not going to be a lot of opportunities to score 90 points. So you’ve got to rely on your defensive rebounding, and I’m glad we were able to get that done today.”
The Aztecs return to Viejas Arena on Feb. 21 as they face off against the Colorado Air Force Falcons (12-15, 5-9).
