San Diego State won’t be repeating as the Mountain West women’s basketball tournament champions.
Five days after defeating Air Force by 17 points in Colorado Springs, Colo., to cap the best regular season in conference history, the top-seeded Aztecs were eliminated 83-76 by the ninth-seeded Falcons Sunday afternoon at the Mountain West Tournament quarterfinals in Las Vegas.
The Aztecs pulled to within three points of Air Force at 79-76 on Naomi Panganiban’s 3-pointer with 17 seconds to play. But the Falcons’ Keelie O’Hollaren hit four free throws down the stretch to finish the upset.
San Diego State, which went 19-1 en route to the regular season Mountain West title, fell to 25-5. The Aztecs had won eight straight games and 21 of their last 22 games — a run capped by the 74-57 road win over the Air Force (15-17) last Tuesday.
“I’m very disappointed in today’s game, but I’m very proud of this team,” Aztecs coach Stacie Terry-Hutson said. “We have played an amazing brand of basketball for five months now. We’re not going to let one loss dampen the season that we’ve had.
“Their pressure bothered us a little bit today. But we still scored 76 points, which should be enough to win. The offense wasn’t the issue. It wasn’t our best and cleanest game. But it was defensively where we lost the game. Air Force made big shots when it counted. Every time when I thought we were trying to crawl into it or get it tied, they made some really big plays.”
Panganiban led the Aztecs with 29 points, including going 5-for-9 from three-point range. She also had six rebounds. But Kennedy Lee was the only other Aztec in double figures with 12 points. And the Aztecs were outrebounded 34-22 and outscored San Diego State 27-11 from the foul line.
Falcons guard Milahnie Perry led all scorers with 33 points with nine rebounds and four assists. Forward Emily Adams had 20 points and eight rebounds. Two other Falcons scored 12 points.
“They executed their offense,” said Terry-Hutson. “They were deliberate and efficient. It’s hard to contain a guard as good as Perry is. And she was magnificent today.”
The Aztecs had their biggest lead at 36-28 on a layin by Mountain West Player of the Year Nala Williams with 9:21 to play in the first half. But the Air Force answered with a 10-0 run inside a 15-2 burst to take a 43-38 lead into halftime.
The Aztecs went on a 13-5 run in the middle of the second half – with Panganiban scoring eight — to take a 58-55 lead. But Air Force answered with an 8-0 run to take the lead for good.
“Our communication wasn’t great on defense today,” said Williams. “And I don’t think we shared the ball as well as we usually do,” said Terry-Hutson.
For the Aztecs, the question is what is next.
The tournament champion will get the only Mountain West bid expected to the NCAA Tournament. But Terry-Hutson indicated San Diego State has already had discussions with the women’s version of the National Invitation Tournament and is hopeful the Aztecs could host a round or two.
“I don’t think our season is over,” said the coach. “We’ll be playing somewhere.”
Big West next
While the regular-season, co-champion women’s team has received a double bye through to Friday’s semifinals, the defending champion men will have to climb step-by-step through the bracket in the Big West Conference Tournament this week at Henderson, Nev.
The fifth-seeded UCSD men (22-10) will open Big West Tournament play Wednesday at 6 p.m. against Cal Poly (14-18). The women (22-8) tied UC Irvine at 17-3 for the regular-season Big West title. The Anteaters received the No. 1 tournament seed.
“It’s an understatement to say how proud I am and happy I am for our team,” said UC San Diego coach Heidi VanDerveer. “We have a resilient group, we have people that battle regardless of the situation. It took our full team effort to accomplish this.
“The moment wasn’t too big. They took advantage of their opportunities, and they played to their strengths. And obviously, our coaches prepare our team so well for these moments. (Associate head coach) Vanessa (Nygaard) did a great job of preparing and giving our team confidence. I think our team understands how they need to play and how to take advantage of their strengths.”
Meanwhile the Tritons’ men’s team was still talking Sunday of the five-second, court-length dash that resulted in Jaden Vance’s buzzer-beating, game-winning layin to give UCSD a 64-63 win at UC Santa Barbara.
But the difference in the game was the 16 steals turned in by the UCSD defenders, including five by the freshman Vance.
“Vance was so locked in,” said UCSD coach Clint Allard. “When he plays like that he’s a menace. He can guard anybody. He’s so active. He’s touching the ball all the time. Just a great defensive effort.”
Two in 3C2A Finals
The fifth-seeded San Diego City College men’s and MiraCosta College women’s basketball teams are headed to the California Community College Athletic Association Championships in Visalia next week.
Both posted wins in the final round of the Southern California Regionals Saturday to reach their Elite Eights.
The Knights travelled to score a 67-59 win over fourth-seeded Ventura, leaving both teams with 25-5 records.
Pacific Coast Athletic Association Player of the Year Dylan Griffin, a freshman guard-forward from University City High School, led San Diego City with 30 points, 13 rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots. Junior Camacho added 18 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals.
The Knights will plan San Francisco City College Friday.
The MiraCosta College women (29-1) defeated 13th-seeded Los Angeles Trade Tech (21-10) 54-49 Saturday on the Spartans’ campus.
PCAC Player of the Year Anayla Anderson was the only Spartan in double figures with 16 points. The sophomore guard also had seven rebounds, six assists and four steals. Kiya Waters had nine rebounds while Kyla Palpallatoc (Morse High School) scored eight points.
Chaya Scott (University City High School) had seven points and eight rebounds while Faith Behrendt (Classical Academy) had seven points and four steals and Melia Hinojos added seven points.