Following a similar trend, the Aztecs got off to a sluggish start that put them in a steep hole to climb out of. Despite a late second half push, it wasn’t enough to propel them over the Rams.

The Aztecs suffered their second straight loss, making this the second time suffering back-to-back losses this season. 

“I was really proud of how we played in the second half. We outscored them by 10…and we looked much more connected than we did to start the game…But I didn’t think we took great shots in the first half and that was reflective in the score,” Head Coach Stacie Terry-Hutson said.

San Diego State women’s basketball(13-6, 2-4 MW) took on Colorado State(13-5, 4-1 MW) at Viejas Arena on Jan. 15 in a Mountain West showdown. This is their second time facing off in the last two weeks, where the Rams took down the Aztecs at CSU.

Following a tough loss to Wyoming, SDSU looked to get back on track in front of the 619 crowd. The Aztecs were 21-10 against the Rams at home, and had won the last five that have taken place at Viejas, until tonight’s loss. 

Going into the first quarter, both teams started slow with only three total baskets in the first four minutes. However, senior forward Kim Villalobos got a couple quick buckets to get the Aztecs rolling. 

With a quick pull up and two free throws from junior guard Veronica Sheffey, SDSU was out to an early 12-8 lead.

The Rams put together a couple late quarter scores to take a 13-12 lead after the first buzzer sounded.

They were able to extend their lead to seven points halfway through the second, catching the Aztecs in another sluggish start to the quarter.

Senior center Cali Clark attempted to start a much needed run to get SDSU back in this ball game. There was a sight of fire coming out of a timeout, where the Aztecs forced a shot clock violation against the Rams.

But they were still struggling to find their stride on the offensive side of the ball. This allowed the Rams to find their largest lead of the game at 16 points. With a last second finish from freshman guard Naomi Panganiban, the Aztecs got to the rim and ended the scoring run to finish the half. 

They found themselves down 30-16, shooting just 7/33 from the field and 0/8 from three. As the second half gets going, SDSU needs to find a way to put points on the board before it gets out of reach. 

“It was our fault. We didn’t take advantage of how they were playing us…We need to do a better job of actually taking mental note of things,” Veronica Sheffey said.

Terry-Hutson spoke about the halftime locker room talk that hoped to light a fire under the Aztecs and get them back in the game.

“It wasn’t a lot of kind words being said. I thought we were just playing selfish basketball and I do not think, not one kid on our roster, is selfish…I thought the shot selections weren’t great. I thought we could’ve shared the ball…and there was no flow in the first half,” she said.

Senior forward Adryana Quezada hit a fade away at the end of the shot clock to get the Aztecs on the board in the first 20 seconds of the third. Following that possession, Naomi drained a three from the parking lot as the shot clock buzzer went off, marking their first three of the game. 

Sheffey came up with a crucial steal and fast break layup to take the lead down to single digits. After a 7-0 Aztec run, SDSU and CSU went back and forth for the remainder of the quarter, with the deficit staying around 10.

The crowd was officially alive after a huge three from Sheffey and a floater from Quezada to cut the lead to five with a minute left in the quarter. The Aztecs finished the quarter down by eight, after a little push from the Rams.

“Everyone came down and hit some big shots…The crowd was more energetic. We were more energetic for each other…It was just momentum building,” Sheffey said.

SDSU outscored CSU 21-15 in the third, making it a manageable deficit as the fourth quarter approached.

The first part of the quarter was more of the same, as both teams traded buckets. But the Aztecs found a groove with a layup from Clark and a wide open corner three from three time Mountain West Freshman of the Week Nat Martinez.

This forced the Rams to call a timeout after the lead was cut down to three. 

Coming out of the break, Quezada cut the lead to one with a jumper from the short corner. But CSU would not quit fighting, as they extended the lead back to eight with 4:13 left to play. 

A backdoor cut and easy layup for Naomi, followed by a foul drawn by Sheffey, cut the lead to four after knocking down both free throws. 

Sheffey also finished at the rim with lots of contact to bring the Aztecs to within two with less than a minute to play. 

“I was just trying to be more aggressive and also looking for open people as well,” Sheffey said. 

CSU made  one of two free throws to give them a three point lead with 30 seconds to play. Sheffey got  the deficit back to one after nearly making a layup that was called a foul. She remained  perfect from the line with two clutch free throws. 

After playing the free throw game, SDSU found themselves down by four with eight seconds left. As time expired, the Aztecs were unable to find themselves victorious, making this back to back losses. 

“Adversity happens…it’s not where we want to be but we can’t have the mindset of hanging our heads at all. We have another opportunity on Saturday…and each game is an opportunity to get better,” Sheffey said. 

Despite the huge second half, it wouldn’t be enough to pull off the comeback. After digging themselves into a hole early in the game, crawling back was just slightly out of reach for the Aztecs. The second quarter struggles ended up being the key factor to this loss, as it gave the Rams too large of an advantage.

“We got to get to a better start…But this is a long season. It’s a very good conference. Not the start that we wanted but in my eyes, we’re only two games down and we’ll figure it out,” Terry-Hutson said. 

SDSU looks to get back into the win column against Utah State in an away conference matchup on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 1 p.m.