SAN DIEGO – The Aztecs open the 2025-26 season against No. 3/4 UCLA at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. in the Orange County Hoops Classic.

Aztec Tidbits

San Diego State went 25-10 last year and won the Mountain West Tournament championship to advance to their first NCAA Tournament since 2012.
The Aztecs’ 25 wins were their most since the 2012-13 season (27).
SDSU was picked to finish second in the Mountain West Preseason poll, their highest preseason selection since the 2012-13 season.
The Aztecs have 70 wins over the past three seasons, tied for the most in a three-year span in program history (1994-96).
SDSU scored 68.8 points per game last year, their highest average in 30 years. They also had their best field goal percentage in 15 years.
The Aztecs had 15 wins away from home last year, a school record. They also had 10 true road wins, which tied the program best.
SDSU won 11 non-conference games last year, their most since the 1983-84 season.
This is the first time in program history that SDSU doesn’t return a single scholarship upperclassman.
The Aztecs have seven newcomers this year, the most ever under head coach Stacie Terry-Hutson (13th season). They added five transfers with four of them coming from Mountain West schools.
Last year, the Aztecs held their opponent under 40% shooting in 20 games (18-2) and under 60 points 15 times (14-1).
The Aztecs went 21-3 (.875) last year when scoring 60 or more points. Since the beginning of the 2022-23 season, they are 59-10 (.855) when they score 60 or more and 38-6 (.864) when they score 70 or more.
SDSU has set a program record for attendance in each of the past two seasons.
Since the beginning of the 2022-23 season, SDSU is 37-12 (.755) in home games.

 

Player Notes

Naomi Panganiban (Sophomore, Guard, San Diego, Calif.)

Naomi Panganiban was named to the preseason All-Mountain West Team.
Last year, she was named to the Mountain West All-Freshman Team and to the Mountain West All-Tournament Team.
Her 10.3 points per game led all Mountain West true freshmen last season.
She averaged 12.3 points in the Mountain West Tournament and scored 17 points on 7-for-14 shooting in 46 minutes in the championship game.
She was named the Mountain West Freshman of the Week three times, tied with Nat Martinez for the school record.
Panganiban scored in double-digits 16 times, tied for the second most on the team.
Playing for the Philippine National Team at the FIBA Asia Cup, she tied for the team lead in scoring (13.2 ppg) despite being the youngest on the team.
The Philippines clinched a spot in the FIBA World Cup Qualifying Tournament for the first time ever

Nat Martinez (Sophomore, Guard, San Leandro, Calif.)

Nat Martinez was also named to the Mountain West All-Freshman Team a year ago.
She shot 41.9% from three last year, the fifth best in a single season in program history.
She was named the Mountain West Freshman of the Week three times, tied with Naomi Panganiban for the school record.

Nala Williams (Senior, Guard, Long Beach, Calif.)

Last year at Cal State Dominguez Hills, Nala Williams was named the DII National Player of the Year and the National Defensive Player of the Year.
She helped lead her school to a 36-2 record and to the national title game.
She had 152 steals last year (4.0/game), which was the most in the nation across all divisions. No one else had more than 140 steals and only three other players had 130 or more.
She has 304 career steals, the third most in the nation across all divisions among active players.
In her career, she has 1,501 points, 506 rebounds, 339 assists and 304 steals in 93 games.
She has scored in double-digits in 74 of her 93 career games and has scored 20 or more 29 times. Her career-high is 42.
She shot a career-best 40% from three last year and made 76 three-pointers.

CJ Latta (Sophomore, Guard, Paul, Idaho)

CJ Latta made 26 starts as a freshman at Utah State last year.
Her 9.1 points per game were the third most in the Mountain West by a true freshmen, trailing only current teammate Naomi Panganiban (10.3) and former USU teammate Taliyah Logwood (9.7).
She led the Aggies in three-pointers (56), assists (2.3), and assist-to-turnover ratio (+1.28).
She ranked third all-time at USU with six games of 15 points or more as a freshman.

Kendall Mosley (Freshman, Guard, Prosper, Texas)

Kendall Mosley was named the preseason Mountain West Freshman of the Year.
She was the 2024-25 6A MVP in Texas.
She was named the District 5-6A Offensive MVP each of the last two years.

 

Opponent Notebook (UCLA)

The Bruins are ranked No. 3 and 4 in the preseason polls.
They went 34-3 last year and won the Big Ten and advanced to the Final Four where they lost to UConn, the eventual champion.
They return four starters from last year’s team.
They have four players, the most in the nation, named to the Naismith College Player of the Year preseason Watch List: Gianna Kneepkens, Charlisse Leger-Walker, Kiki Rice and Lauren Betts.
Betts is a preseason First Team All-American.
Rice was an honorable mention All-American last year.
Kneepken was named to the Ann Meyers Drysdale preseason Watch List.
Head coach Cori Close (15th season) is 321-143 at UCLA. She is the reigning National Coach of the Year (AP, Naismith, USBWA, WBCA).

 

Series History

UCLA leads the all-time series 23-6.
The Bruins’ average margin of victory is 19.1 points.
This is their first meeting since Dec. 15, 2013, a 56-55 UCLA win in San Diego.
UCLA has won the last six meetings.
SDSU’s last win vs. UCLA was Dec. 6, 1992, a 77-52 win at UCLA.
This is just the second time the two teams have played at a neutral site. They played in Malibu, Calif. March 14, 1981 in the AIAW Regional Tournament.
The Aztecs are 22-66 against teams currently in the Big Ten. SDSU beat Wisconsin last year and plays Penn State later in the year.