San Diego State women’s basketball(4-0) played San Francisco State(2-2) at Viejas Arena on Nov. 16, making this the Aztecs’s first 4-0 start since the 1992-1993 season.

This also marks Coach Stacie Terry-Hutson’s 100th career home win. The Aztecs remain one of three undefeated teams in the Mountain West. 

Despite reaching such an admirable milestone, Terry-Hutson gives credit to everyone involved in this achievement.

“It’s not about individual accomplishments, it’s about the we over the me…today’s game really embodied that,” Terry-Hutson said. 

SDSU is now 3-1 against USF when at home, cutting the overall record to 5-4 against the Dons. This battle showcased why basketball is a game of runs and there were plenty throughout. 

SDSU got off to a slow start, not scoring their first basket until four and a half minutes into the game. They found themselves in an early three-point deficit, but both teams looked sluggish out the gates.

Freshman point guard Naomi Panganiban made an immediate impact for the Aztecs coming off the bench. She got to the line and tallied on two free throws, followed by a steal and pull-up jumper from the right elbow. 

With this cutting the lead to one, the Dons took back momentum by scoring a few quick buckets to finish the first quarter up 16-8.

Senior forward Adryana Quezada came out firing in the second quarter, scoring a quick layup followed by two more scores. 

After a crucial charging call against USF, Quezada knocked down a critical three, tallying the first nine points for the Aztecs in the second. 

The Aztecs began to find their stride and managed to cut the lead to four as halftime approached. 

Coming out of a USF timeout, the Dons finished a tough and-1 to put back in front by seven. They came into this game shooting lights out, putting in four of their six three-pointers, with a 63.6% from the field.

SDSU forced a shot clock violation to finish off the first half down by six with a score of 36-30. Despite only shooting 40% from the field and 16.7% from three, the Aztecs still found themselves in a close game. 

Quezada has been a bright spot for SDSU, scoring all of her 11 points in the second quarter, with a total of four rebounds as well. She has been extremely efficient, shooting five for six from the field in the first half. 

Both teams came out of halftime sluggish, scoring only two points each after three minutes had passed in the third quarter. 

SDSU got going as the quarter continued with a quick 4-0 run led by a bucket from Quezada and a fastbreak floater from junior guard Veronica Sheffey.

This would be the beginning of Sheffey’s third-quarter takeover as she cut the lead to two with a tough layup. This would force the Dons to call a timeout.

However, this would not halt SDSU’s momentum as Sheffey drew a foul and knocked down both free throws to tie the game up for the first time since it was 0-0.

Immediately after, Sheffey nailed a stepback midrange jumper to put the Aztecs in front for the first time all game. They finally took control over the Dons late in the third, outscoring them 22-12. 

Freshman guard Nat Martinez stepped on the gas in the third, contributing six points to their dominant quarter. The Aztecs entered the fourth with a four-point lead and momentum completely on their side.

The trend was the same in the fourth quarter, as Martinez laced a deep three-ball and got fouled in the process. The made free throw would put SDSU ahead by eight, their largest lead of the game.

“I just popped it. No landing space. Hit that three-pointer and I looked at the refs, seen the foul and I got hyped,” Martinez said, commenting on the huge play. 

The Aztecs had taken full control of all momentum, as the Dons were unable to inbound the ball, forcing a critical five-second call.

Following the great defensive play, a huge block from senior forward Cali Clark led to a fastbreak layup from freshman guard Kaeyln Hamilton to advance the lead to 10.

SDSU found themselves up 64-54 with five minutes left to play. As the momentum was at its peak, Panganiban knocked down a corner three to get the crowd on their feet.

This would be enough to take home a 73-62 victory, despite only leading for 14 minutes and 46 seconds. The second half was the story of this game as the Aztecs outscored the Dons by 17 points. 

“We just had a reality check at halftime…we knew that we had what we needed to get there. We just needed them to kinda lock in and change the mentality,” Terry-Hutson said. 

Leading the way were Quezada, Sheffey, Martinez and Panganiban combining for 52 points for the Aztecs. 

SDSU will take on California Baptist University in an away matchup on Nov. 20 at 5 p.m. in hopes of remaining undefeated.