Roughly 20 miles separate the campuses of San Diego State and UC San Diego.
But over the past two seasons, the Tritons and Aztecs have steered roughly parallel courses to unprecedented success for their women’s basketball programs.
San Diego State and UC San Diego are a combined 94-39 since the start of the 2024-2025 season.
UC San Diego just capped a 24-8 season by winning a second straight Big West Tournament to earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament for a second straight season. The Tritons will play TCU at 9 a.m. Friday in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Aztecs won the Mountain West title this season with an unprecedented 19-1 conference record. But the regular-season champions were upset by Air Force in their opening Mountain West Tournament game, forcing the 25-5 Aztecs into a Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament game Thursday night against UC Irvine at 6 p.m. at the Jenny Craig Pavilion at the University of San Diego. SDSU’s home court, Viejas Arena, is being used for the first and second rounds of the men’s NCAA Tournament.
Both the Aztecs and Tritons lost key players from their 2025 NCAA Tournament teams. Both added key guards to their 2025-2026 rosters.
But the parallels in the programs go beyond results and personnel. Players on both teams speak in near-reverential terms about their teammates. And the coaches of both teams have praised their crosstown peers while applauding the chemistry inside their own program.
Speaking of her team, UCSD coach Heidi VanDerveer recently said: “A lot of teams like playing with each other, but this team really plays for each other. I think we have great maturity. I think we are polished. We have great leadership from the five who play the majority of the minutes. They are focused, driven and resilient. They just want to keep playing with each other.”
When asked about San Diego State, VanDerveer said: “They graduated three post players who were their leaders last year, changed what they did best and came back stronger. That’s impressive.”
LSU head coach Kim Mulkey, left, greets San Diego State head coach Stacie Terry-Hutson in the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Saturday, March 22, 2025, in Baton Rouge, La. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton)
Speaking of her team, San Diego State coach Stacie Terry-Hutson said: “Depth is our secret weapon. We play solid defense. We move the ball around and find the open person and hot hand on offense. We don’t rely on one player. It can be anyone on a given night or a given possession. We can score a lot of different ways. We’re high-energy and we’re looking out for each other. It’s a very intelligent group that loves each other.”
When asked about UC San Diego, Terry-Hutson said: “Like us, the Tritons are a high-energy team that can do a lot of different things offensively and attack you all-around the court on defense. I think both these teams like being a team.”
Listen to the players:
UCSD guard Sabrina Ma: “The memories we have built with this team with this group are incredible.”
Teammate and fellow guard Makayla Rose: “There is total trust in one another. You can make plays knowing a teammate has your back.”
Forward Erin Condron: “We play how we play every game, bringing that same mentality, energy and consistency. Everyone is on the same page.”
SDSU guard Nala Williams: “It takes all of us, unity.”
Teammate and fellow guard Natalia Martinez: “We recognize that it’s not just scoring. It’s being a teammate. It’s moving the ball around, moving and helping on defense.”
Both teams lost their leading scorers from the 2024-2025 season through the transfer portal. Sumayah Sugapong (La Jolla Country Day) left UCSD for the University of Arizona. San Diego State lost point guard Veronica Sheffey to TCU, where she will come off the bench against UCSD on Friday. San Diego State also lost three forwards from its 2024-2025 team.
Both teams reached outside for replacements.
UCSD brought in Rose, the Big West Tournament MVP, from UC Riverside. Dymonique Maxie came over from Nevada.
“I think they are the best set of defensive guards I’ve seen,” VanDerveer said.
The Aztecs replaced Sheffey with Williams, who was the NCAA Division II National Player of the Year at Cal State Dominguez Hills. Williams was named the Mountain West Player of the Year. Up front, sophomore Bailey Barnhard (Del Norte High School) and transfers Kennedy Lee and Maria Konstantinidou and redshirt Alyssa Jackson took over.
“I was surprised,” Terry-Hutson said, “(by) how quickly we jelled.”