The San Diego State women’s basketball team (16-1 Mountain West, 22-4 overall) defeated Fresno State (8-9 MW, 14-14 overall) 68-59 on Saturday afternoon at Viejas Arena, clinching a share of the 2025-26 Mountain West regular season championship.

“We’re going to celebrate it, but it’s not enough,” head coach Stacie Terry-Hutson said. “We want to make sure that we continue to play at the standard that we’ve tried to set throughout the season and rely heavily in our habits to still continue to get better every time we’re on the floor. Happy to be a champion but we don’t want to share. So we got to keep winning.”

This is the first time since 2013 that the women’s program has won a conference regular-season championship. As the Aztecs celebrated Black History Month during the game against the Bulldogs, Terry-Hutson became the first women’s Black head coach to win a regular-season conference championship at SDSU.

“I’m a little emotional in the sense that I’m just really proud of our staff, support staff and all the young women that are in this program,” Terry-Hutson said.

In the first quarter, the Bulldogs won the tip-off, but the Aztecs scored first when graduate guard Emilia Long fouled sophomore guard Nat Martinez, who made one of two free throws.

San Diego State sophomore guard Nat Williams (center) attempts a layup in a 68-59 win against Fresno State, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026, at Viejas Arena (Jamie Sanchez)

The Bulldogs came out fast against the Aztecs from the start.

“We tried to not let them speed us up,” sophomore guard Kaelyn Hamilton said. “The pressure makes you go faster. We were kind of just trying to tell each other ‘Play your game. Dictate how you want to get to the basket or when you want to get to the basket.’ I think that kind of put our minds at ease.”

Fouls became an early issue for the Aztecs, as all five starters picked up a foul. Martinez exited in the first quarter after committing two fouls within four minutes.

The Aztecs took an early lead in the first quarter when sophomore guard-forward Alyssa Jackson missed a three-pointer. Still, junior forward Maria Konstantinidou grabbed the rebound and scored on the putback.

The basket counted, and Konstantinidou got fouled by redshirt junior forward Avery Watkins. Konstantinidou converted the free throw to give the Aztecs a 5-4 lead.

Sophomore guard Bailey Barnhard missed her jumper but grabbed the rebound and passed the ball out of the paint to senior guard Nala Williams, who hit a three-pointer to give the Aztecs a 14-11 lead.

In the second quarter, the Bulldogs took a 24-23 lead with three minutes remaining when Long scored on a layup.

Sophomore guard CJ Latta, one of the Aztecs’ “game changers,” responded with a three-pointer off an assist from sophomore guard Naomi Panganiban to give SDSU a 26-24 lead.

“The game changers do really affect the game, and we appreciate those giving us a rest and not having a falloff at all,” Martinez said.

Terry-Hutson felt disappointed with the team’s lack of discipline in the first half.

“The message prior to the game was ‘rely on your habits,’ and I thought we reverted in the first half,” Terry-Hutson said. “The message was we got to get back to the standard that we have set.”

Martinez sat out the second quarter because of her early fouls but returned in the third, making offensive contributions, including a three-pointer assisted by Williams with five minutes remaining to extend the Aztecs’ lead to 41-35.

Panganiban closed the third quarter with a jumper, pushing SDSU’s lead to 51-42 with 34 seconds left.

Although the Bulldogs were making shots, the Aztecs responded in the fourth quarter. As the Aztecs continued to extend their lead, the Bulldogs fell further behind in scoring.

The Aztecs added two three-pointers late in the fourth quarter, with junior forward Kennedy Lee and Martinez each hitting one.

SDSU closed out the game when Watkins fouled Panganiban on a fast break. Panganiban made both free throws to seal the 68-59 victory.

The Aztecs finished the game shooting 41.4% from the field, 26.9% on three-pointers and 72.2% on free throws. The Bulldogs ended with 37% from the field, 18.2% on three-pointers and 63% on free throws.

“After an emotional win against UNLV, I thought we started the game really tired,” Terry-Hutson said. “ I was just proud of the way that we had some grit to figure it out, because we were exhausted and it was not a pretty game. However, we were able to find a way to get stops and get rebounds when we needed to, and that was huge.”

Hamilton scored 11 points, the second-highest for the Aztecs, and talked about playing against pressure-heavy opponents.

“I’m a very big competitor, and when we’re coming out with games with people who are putting a lot of pressure on us, I think that I thrive in those environments,” Hamilton said.

San Diego State senior guard Nala Williams cuts the net after winning the regular season in a 68-59 win against Fresno State, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026, at Viejas Arena (Jamie Sanchez)

Celebrations began after the game as the Scarlet and Black were presented with their Mountain West regular-season champions trophy. As confetti fell from the arena ceiling, everyone was invited onto the court to join the celebration.

The Scarlet and Black will hit the road to face Boise State on Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 5:30 p.m. They return Saturday, Feb. 28 for their final home game of the season against the Wyoming Cowgirls, celebrating their seniors at 1 p.m. at Viejas Arena.

“Boise is tough and they’re even tougher at home,” Terry-Hutson said. “This is going to be a really hard-fought game. We haven’t had a lot of success in years past at Boise, so we’re going to have to start fast.”