The Aztecs (10-1) fought for all 40 minutes with Cal State Fullerton (0-10), but SDSU was able to pull out the win on the road Thursday night at Titan Gym.
SDSU was slow out of the gate, leading the Titans by single digits at the end of the first quarter and first half. The Aztecs’ defense was their saving grace in the first half, holding Cal State Fullerton to 33 points. SDSU forced seven turnovers in the opening half, including five steals.
Aztecs Head Coach Stacie Terry-Hutson had her team in a full-court press for most of the game, but especially the first half, which led to the Titans giving the ball away 14 total times. Four players for SDSU contributed to the team’s eight steals: Cali Clark (3), Erin Houpt (2), Kaelyn Hamilton (2) and Adryana Quezada (1).
The Aztecs swarmed Cal State Fullerton around the basket. The Titans shot a measly 37.7% from the field and an even lower 18.2% from beyond the arc. Even when SDSU was unable to score from 4:20 to 0:26 left in the game, their consistent defense held Fullerton scoreless from 3:56 to 0:44, as well.
When the defense happened to fail, SDSU’s offense almost always got a bucket to keep them ahead. Eleven first-half points from Quezada, a senior leader, was enough to hold off the Titans early. Freshman star Naomi Panganiban shot 60% from the field and tied Quezada for the most points in the game with 17.
For most of the game, the Aztecs leaned on Quezada and Panganiban for scoring support as they led the team in shots attempted and shots made (8/15 and 6/10, respectively). Despite coming off of the bench, they also led SDSU in minutes played (30).
SDSU was unable to pull away from the Titans, despite being double-digit favorites before tip-off. The unexpectedly tight game did not rattle the newly-minted Panganiban as she hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to keep the Aztecs ahead at the end of the third quarter.
With Panganiban’s buzzer-beater, despite how tight the contest was throughout its duration, the Aztecs led at the end of every period.
Other contributors for SDSU were junior starting guard Erin Houpt (12 points) and senior starting forward Cali Clark (6 points, 9 rebounds).
Notching their 10th win of the season, the Aztecs remain atop the Mountain West both record-wise (10-1) and percentage-wise (90.9%). They also remain unbeaten on the road; winning road games is always a positive, especially if the Aztecs want to win a conference title.
Up next for SDSU is a home game at Viejas Arena against the Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks at 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 20.
