San Diego State women’s basketball played its Filipino heritage game against Pacific on Dec. 7 at Viejas Arena, where the Aztecs pulled off a dramatic last-second defensive stop to pull out a 70-68 victory. The win in front of a lively Viejas Arena crowd helped them improve to 5-3 on the season.
“The game was fun to watch, we made it fun for the crowd that was here,” head coach Stacie Terry-Hutson said postgame. “It’s always good to win and learn than lose and learn, so we got a lot to improve on. I thought we played a pretty good first half, but we’re still trying to put 40 minutes together.”
SDSU started the game off strong with the help of back-to-back layups from senior forward Kennedy Lee and sophomore guard Bailey Barnhard, before fellow sophomore star guard Naomi Panganiban converted the Aztecs’ first shot from three to help them open the game with a 7-2 run.
The pace would slow a bit, but thanks to good defense and consistent shot-making, the Aztecs were able to close out the first quarter with a 22-15 lead after Panganiban hit her third three-pointer of the quarter as time expired.
The Scarlet and Black continued to ride this momentum throughout the rest of the first half as they jumped out to their largest lead of 14 points, thanks to a 21-5 run. This first-half success allowed them to control the rest of the half, going into halftime with a double-digit lead of 44-31.
The Aztecs finished the first half shooting 50% from the field and a blazing 56% from 3-point range. The defense also played a huge factor for the Aztecs in the first half, holding Pacific to just 37% from the field and 23% from beyond three-point range.
However, the momentum shifted in favor of Pacific, as they rallied in the third quarter, capitalizing on missed shots, defensive rebounds and SDSU turnovers.
This allowed Pacific to cut the lead to four as the game headed into the fourth quarter; however, thanks to timely offense and a defensive stand on the last possession, the Aztecs walked away with a slim 70-68 victory. The Aztecs finished the game shooting 45% from the field and 39% from three, whilst Pacific were held to 41% from the field and 40% from three.
After the game, coach Terry-Hutson explained what the game meant, not just for the team but also for the local community in attendance, celebrating Filipino Heritage.
“I was just telling Naomi what a fun environment this game was and we need to do more of it,” Terry-Hutson said. “This is such a huge Filipino community and it was really cool to see the crowd that we got and them cheering and obviously the love they have for Naomi.”
Panganiban also added to what the game meant for her as a fellow Filipina.
“Yeah, it was awesome just to be able to represent my Filipino culture, my family,” Panganiban said. “Just seeing everybody there and hearing the national anthem for the Philippines being played made me a little emotional.”
The Scarlet and Black will play next on Wednesday, Dec. 10, traveling to Manhattan, Kansas, to face Kansas State at Bramlage Coliseum at 9 a.m.
