LAS VEGAS — One player played with a torn meniscus, while another’s shoulder popped in and out during practice.
Through the physical and emotional toll of a four-day run through the Mountain West Championships, all the way to the final, the San Diego State women’s basketball team’s character was on full display.
Though the Aztecs lost, 66-49 to the No. 21 UNLV Lady Rebels on Wednesday night, the impact extended way beyond the final game of a 22-13 season.
“We talked about it before the season even started — we believed in each other,” said sixth-year senior guard Abby Prohaska. “We believed in the locker room, and the people that were supporting us from the jump.”
Prohaska is one of seven transfers on the 15-player roster, each who came to the Mesa because of their belief in head coach Stacie Terry-Hutson’s mission for the Scarlet and Black.
“We want to give them a safe place to land,” Terry-Hutson said. “A lot of them haven’t had great experiences at their previous schools, and we want them to make sure that they leave with that love and excitement about basketball again.”
Prohaska led SDSU with 13 points and five rebounds, in addition to drawing one of five charges. It was the kind of gutty, gritty, all-out physical effort that has characterized her two years with the program.
But the inner fire that fueled her through her time as an Aztec — including this season where she wore a supportive neck ring after sustaining a concussion — wasn’t burning brightly when she arrived.
“I really — I fell out of love with basketball at Notre Dame. I wanted to quit, and I needed a place to fall in love again,” Prohaska said. “Stacie provided that for me, and I’m just so glad to have played a part in the transformation of this program.”
The transfers scored 39 of the 49 points.
Jada Lewis, a fifth-year who finished her collegiate career in scarlet and black after four years at Portland State, knocked down two of her three 3s in the third to pull within 37-32 with 2:39 remaining in the quarter.
“I came here because of Stacie (Terry-Hutson), honestly,” Lewis said. “Our assistants, all the staff, everyone is great.”
Sarah Barcello came west from Poughkeepsie, New York, because of the coaching staff as well as the potential for success at SDSU. She finished with six points and drew also a charge.
“It’s a phenomenal program top to bottom, and (I) just wanted to make something happen that hasn’t happened,” Barcello said.
The past two years have been the women’s basketball program’s best in over a decade. Transfers played crucial roles in back-to-back 20-win seasons, as well as increasing success at the Mountain West Championships.
“This is why myself and my staff, why we do what we do — to impact lives like that.” Terry-Hutson said.
One can see why Prohaska, Barcello and Lewis gave so much for the program, and why their impact will be felt as its culture continues to grow forward.
