LAS VEGAS – Naomi Panganiban put up a valiant effort for San Diego State’s women’s basketball team with her 29 points. Despite her performance, the top-seeded Aztecs were upset by the 9-seed Air Force 83-76 in the Mountain West tournament quarterfinal.
“When the lights are on, she’s always ready to compete,” head coach Stacie Terry-Hutson said in her postgame press conference.
Panganiban capped off her sophomore season by dropping her season high in points. She shot 9-19 from the field, including 5-9 from beyond the arc.
In the first half, Panganiban had nine points to lead all Aztecs as they held a 32-26 advantage in the intermission. More importantly, she and the SDSU defense did not allow an Air Force field goal in the final 4:48.
Not only did Panganiban lead the team in scoring, but her six assists were a team and personal season high. With four of them coming in the first half, her passing opened up the offense, allowing contributions from others, such as Nala Williams and Maria Konstantinidou.
“She had 29 today, and she also had six assists and zero turnovers,” Terry-Hutson said. “She played a pretty good game all the way around.”
The third quarter was more of the same for Panganiban. She matched her first half output with nine points in the quarter alone, yet it was Air Force who led 55-54 with ten minutes to go.
It was the fourth quarter where Panganiban showed the crowd why she earned All-Mountain West honors. With the Aztecs losing ground on a Falcons team, her late rally put pressure on the opposition.
Facing a 10-point deficit with just under 90 seconds left, Panganiban attempted a self-heroic effort to bring the Aztecs back from the dead, scoring 11 points. Her third three-pointer in 19 seconds had put the Aztecs within striking distance as they trailed 79-76 with 17 seconds left in the game.
“She kind of put us on her back and made some big-time shots, and that’s just who she is,” Terry-Hutson said.
Unfortunately, that would be the closest the Aztecs got, as Air Force knocked down their final four free throws to complete one of the biggest shockers of the championship week.
While Panganiban and SDSU’s NCAA tournament hopes were all but dashed after today’s result, SDSU’s remarkable season included a 25-5 overall record and an outright Mountain West regular season title entering tournament play.
“We’re not gonna let one loss dictate or dampen something that we had,” Terry-Hutson said. “To go 19-1 in this conference was a challenging feat, [I’m] really proud of our kids.”
The San Diego native and Philippine international finishes her sophomore year leading the team, averaging 14.4 points per game and ranking second with 67 total assists.
In today’s NIL and transfer portal era, Panganiban’s return to the Mesa is not guaranteed. Still, if she does, she will be among the favorites for conference player of the year in the Aztecs’ first season as Pac-12 members.
“Naomi’s already a fantastic player, but she can really continue to grow in a lot of different aspects,” Terry-Hutson said. “I’m looking forward to her growth.”
