After finishing victorious in the Mountain West Tournament, the San Diego State Women’s basketball team carried their euphoria into the NCAA Tournament, their first appearance since 2012.
The 14th-seed Aztecs (25-10, 11-7 MW) traveled to Baton Rouge to face the 3rd-seed LSU Tigers (29-5, 12-4 SEC). The Aztecs were riding an eight-game win streak into the tournament, but they faced their most daunting challenge yet.
LSU is one of the nation’s most prestigious programs- just two seasons removed from a National Championship title. They are ranked tenth in the country and led by four-time national champion head coach Kim Mulkey. On top of that, the game was played on the Tiger’s home court, where they were 17-1 going into the game.
SDSU head coach Stacie Terry-Hutson was familiar with the challenge ahead, especially the intense atmosphere, as she served as an assistant coach at LSU before taking the job at SDSU in 2013.
“It’s a great home court advantage and it was deafening at times when they went on runs,” she said. “But we expected that.”
Despite coming into the game on the high of being conference champions, the Scarlet and Black got a first-hand experience of what makes LSU so renowned. They were simply outpowered on all fronts, suffering a 103-48 season-ending loss.
LSU’s experience in the tournament helped them dominate the Aztecs from tip-off to the end. The Tigers’ “Big Three” of guards Flau’Jae Johnson and Mikaylah Williams, with forward Aneeshah Morrow attacked the Aztecs early.
The game opened with back-to-back threes from Johnson and Williams, setting a tone for what was to come. The Aztecs appeared rattled as the deficit grew early on. An 11-0 LSU run to open the game was capped with a Johnson steal and score off of SDSU guard Veronica Sheffey.
Turnovers played a pivotal role in the outcome of the game, with SDSU turning the ball over 19 times, leading to 25 LSU points. On the other hand, the ‘Tecs only managed to score two points of 11 turnovers.
Guard Nat Martinez finally put the Aztecs on the board with a three, but Johnson immediately responded with a triple on the other end, a common theme of the night. Guard Jazlen Green cashed another shot from deep to put more points on the board for the Aztecs, but they still couldn’t find momentum.
The Tigers lead continued to extend throughout the quarter, which finished with a Morrow buzzer-beater to give them a 27-10 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter picked up just like the first left off, with a total Tiger dominance. They opened the quarter on a 9-0 scoring run, which ended with a layup from Aztec forward Adryana Quezada.
In her last collegiate game, Quezada led the half-scoring for SDSU with six points, all coming in the second quarter. She was the only Aztec with multiple field goals in the first half, providing any kind of spark that the team could find.
Despite her efforts, the Aztecs could not catch a break.
The Tigers continued to pile onto their lead, in large part thanks to their dominance on the glass. They hounded the glass, out-rebounding SDSU 22-11 in the first half and 53-31 in the game, in large part thanks to Morrow, the nation’s leading rebounder.
Forward Kim Villalobos knew that containing Morrow and LSU from grabbing rebounds would be a tough task, despite any preparation.
“The overall game plan was boxing out every player,” she said. “They all crashed the boards aggressively and boxing out was definitely the emphasis.”
LSU’s constant attack led to a 49-20 halftime deficit, leaving little hope for SDSU going into the second half.
Just as the first half, nothing went the Aztecs’ way in the second half. The third quarter started with five straight points for LSU.
Anytime something went right for the Aztecs, even more things seemed to go well for the Tigers. The depth of LSU’s roster allowed them to continue clawing at the Aztecs, even when the stars came out of the game.
“I didn’t expect the bench to come in and shoot the ball as well as they did,” Terry-Hutson said. “That makes LSU really, really dangerous, when they can go as deep as they did tonight.”
That same theme rang true in the fourth quarter, where the deficit continued to grow.
As the points continued to pile on, the reality of the end of the season started to set in for SDSU. LSU got up by as many as 56 points, their largest lead of the evening.
As the clock wound down to zero, the game concluded in a disappointing end to a magical season for the Scarlet and Black.
Despite the disappointment of such a loss, winning the championship and advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 13 years defined the 2024-25 season as a success for SDSU, setting a new standard for the program going forward.
“I have enjoyed this group thoroughly,” said Terry-Hutson. “I will forever be grateful for what they were able to give to San Diego State women’s basketball.”
The loss marked the culmination of the collegiate careers for five Aztecs, who left a lasting impact, leading the way to a historic season for the program. That includes Villalobos, who holds the record for the most games played in program history.
“The time flew by, but it’s also because I was accompanied by the best people that I’ve met my whole life,” Villalobos said. “Just super grateful. I’m super happy, we won a championship, that’s all I wanted for my career.”
Terry-Hutson and the Aztecs hope to build on their success this season and learn from the loss.
“This is going to be something we’ll watch back and learn from and continue to grow our program, so we can compete better next time we’re in this position,” Terry-Hutson said. “I told the girls, ‘Don’t let this game cloud what we’ve been able to do.’”
