SDSU men start MW play 9-1, SDSU women roll a perfect 10-0
Viejas Arena is regularly filled whenever the San Diego State University men’s basketball team takes the court. There’s good reason for fans to flock to games to watch a talented roster with a winning record.
SDSU defeated visiting Colorado State, 73-50, on Wednesday to reach the midpoint of Mountain West Conference play with a first-place record of 9-1. A crowd of 12,414 applauded the effort.
The Aztecs have started the league season with at least nine wins in their first 10 games for the third time the Brian Dutcher head coach era (10-0 in 2019-20 and 9-1 in 2022-23).
SDSU improved to 128-18 (0.876 winning percentage) in home court wins since 2009-10, the best record in the Mountain West.
Reese Dixon-Water led the latest scoring parade with 16 points, followed by Pharao Compton with 15 points and Miles Byrd with 10 points. Additionally, Taj DeGourville dropped in nine points.
The game featured three lead changes and was tied three times. The Rams led by six points in the first half but trailed by 25 points in the second half.
The hosts sank six three-point shots, including two by Dixon-Waters. B.J. Davis dished out five assists.
SDSU held the Rams (3-7 in MW, 12-9 overall) to 33.3 percent shooting, their lowest mark of the season and lowest mark against a MW opponent since shooting 27.9 percent against the Aztecs on Jan. 8, 2022. SDSU improved to 192-8 in its last 200 home games when holding an opponent to under 60 points under Dutcher.
The Aztecs have won 40 consecutive games when holding an opponent to less than 60 points.
Dutcher called Wednesday’s outcome a “really good win.”
“As a coach, even though it’s a home game, I looked at it like a trap game because we’re in the middle of four games, with three of them on the road. The one thing you can’t do is lose that one home game. It’s hard to win on the road, and we got a split with Vegas and Grand Canyon with one win and one tie. We had a chance to get two, but we didn’t get it done. We had to win this game. Now we go to Utah State, and we (will) let it all hang out because we know they’re coming back to us. This is a really good team. They’ll have an advantage playing at home. Their crowd is incredible, they’re talented, they’re well-coached, and we’re going to go in there and try to steal a road win.”
The Aztecs take a 4-1 conference road record into the upcoming game in Utah.
“It’ll take our best performance of the year to go into Logan and get a win, but I have a group of guys that are up for the challenge,” Dutcher said. “We’ll go over there, I’ll have a cup of coffee, and we’ll play at 10 a.m. San Diego time on Saturday and see if we’re awake and ready to play or now.”
Dutcher said Dixon-Waters and Compton are “just getting better.”
“Every game, Reese is getting better,” Dutcher said. “When he starts rhythm dribbling and raising up for three, he’s hard to deal with. He’s getting a good rhythm to his game. Reese was super-efficient, and he was really good at the defensive end as always. Then Pharaoh comes off the bench, and he’s always shooting at a high percentage. He’s always taking high-percentage shots. He makes that effort play where he’s also above the rum, dunking the ball and chasing down rebounds. I’m really happy with both of them.
“We’re playing a little shorthanded, down two starters, Elsie (Harrington) didn’t play today with lower leg pain. Magoon (Gwath) is still out, and we’ll see how long they’re both out for. But that’s the beauty of this team. Our depth with Reese and Pharaoh ist just a really good part of this team.”
“We took pride in our defense early, knowing that if we step back and lock in on that side of the floor, then no team can compete with us,” Compton said.
Dixon-Waters was honored for scoring more than 1,000 career points.
“I’m very thankful,” the SDSU hoop man said. “Obviously, I was hurt last year, so I’m just glad to be back and playing and able to reach that milestone. All my teammates were supportive of me, so that was a cool feeling.
“I was shooting with confidence today and they went in. If I feel like at that moment it’s a good shot for me, I’m going to take it. I’m happy with anything that I’m confident in. Every time I shoot I think it’s going in.”
But SDSU was a dual personality: its women’s basketball team.
The Lady Aztecs are posting record-breaking numbers this season and remain undefeated in Mountain West play following Wednesday’s 46-44 win at Colorado State. The win was the 12th consecutive for the Lady Aztecs and 18th straight against a conference opponent dating to last season.
The road win raised SDSU’s conference record to 10-0, 16-3 overall, while Colorado State fell to 8-3 in MW, 17-5 overall, in a matchup of top conference foes.
On a day when the Lady Aztecs, averaging more than nine three-point shots per game failed to drop in a trey, defense became the name of the game for the winners. The San Diego visitors held the Lady Rams to 31 percent shooting and out-rebounded them 51-30 to extend their win streak to 12 games.
“What a great defensive effort,” SDSU head coach Stacie Terry-Hutson told the media after the game. “We did a good job taking away their strengths and this was a really good team win.”
The Lady Aztecs began the game on a 10-1 run and held the lead until there was 7:37 left in the game. CSU was up three points with 3:53 remaining, but SDSU responded with a 10-0 run and led by seven points with 28 seconds remaining. A couple of CSU three-pointers, coupled with missed free throws by the Aztecs, gave the hosts a chance to tie or win the game with 3.5 seconds remaining.
But SDSU got one final stop in the final seconds when Nat Martinez bottled up CSU’s leading scorer, Lexus Bargesser, and forced her to dribble the ball off her foot.
The Lady Aztecs were led by Kaelyn Hamilton, who had a career-high 15 points on 7-for-11 shooting and brought in a crucial offensive rebound on a missed free throw with four seconds left.
“Kaelyn is tough as nails,” Terry-Hutson praised. “She can guard anybody out there and she was locked in defensively today.”
Alyssa Jackson also had a huge game off the bench, securing a career-high 11 rebounds. Naomi Panganiban was held without a field goal but was 8-for-8 from the line in the second half.
SDSU averages 9.1 three-pointers per game and made 14 against. San Jose State Saturday but was 0-for-12 against CSU. It was the first time they have won a game without making a three pointer since Feb. 4, 2015 against Nevada.
The Lady Aztecs out-rebounded the Lady Rams 51-30.
“It was an ugly win, but when you can win on the road at altitude in this conference against a very good team, we’re going to take some positives away from that.”Terry-Hutson said after the game.
The Aztecs’ 46 points are the fewest they have ever scored in a win in school history.
SDSU’s 16-3 start is the best since the 1993-94 season.
The Lady Aztecs became the sixth team in Mountain West history to start 10-0 in conference play. Each of the previous five teams made the NCAA Tournament that year.
SDSU hosts Nevada Saturday at 1 p.m. All children in eighth grade and under can attend the game for free in conjunction with the Girls and Women in Sports Day celebration.
The Lady Aztecs will also be celebrating the 16th anniversary of the 2009-10 team that advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 tournament\.
Wire-to-wire win
SDSU recorded a 94-66 wire-to-wire MW win over San Jose State on Saturday en route to claiming their 11th consecutive win. The Lady Aztecs dished out a season-high 24 assists and tied a season-high with 14 treys. The hosts scored at least 21 points in each quarter.
“We did a good job of handling business and protecting our home court,” Terry-Hutson said. “I thought our bench played really good minutes fr us and we showed how deep we are.”
SDSU received points from 12 players, led by Nala Williams and Kennedy lee who each had a double-double. Williams poured in 20 points with 10 assists and became the first Lady Aztec in the MW ear to have at least 20 points, 10 assists and zero turnovers in a game,
Lee dropped in 12 points to go with a season-high 12 rebounds.
The Lady Aztecs used an early 18-0 run to take a 21-3 lead. The hosts led by double digits the rest of the game.
SDSU dominated SJSU 49-28 in rebounds with an 14-3 advantage on the offensive glass that led to a 13-0 edge in second chance points.
The Lady Aztecs, whose 15-3 start is the program’s best in 30 years, outscored the Lady Spartans 26-8 in the paint.
Record numbers
SDSU topped visiting New Mexico, 73-56, in front of a record-breaking crowd of 8,054 at Viejas Arena on Jan. 14 to extend their win streak to nine games. The hosts hit 14 three-point shots to the delight of the record audience.
SDSU shot 51 percent from the floor and 52 percent from three-point range to stifle the Lady Logos, who entered the game as the MW’s top scoring team. The Lady Aztecs held the visitors to 15 points below their season average.
SDSU trailed by as much as nine points in the first half but righted themselves with an 11-point lead in the third quarter. The Lady Aztecs out-scored the Lady Lobos 26-9 in the fourth quarter to spirit away the conference victory.
“Our defense was the key,” the SDSU coach said. “We did a good job of staying in front of their quick guards. If we can defend like that, we’re going to be pretty good.”
Four players scored in double digits. Lee had 15 points, Williams had 14 points, Alyssa Jackson had a career high 11 points and Bailey Barnhard also dropped in 11 points.
Destinee Hooks led New Mexico with 18 points.
The previous record home crowd was 6,906 set last year.
“I love the way the community rallies around our women’s basketball program,” Terry-Hutson said. “I love these field trip games and I’m grateful for the schools that have bought in and care about coming to our games at San Diego State. This is a great opportunity to expose our university to a bunch of young people.”
Many will be coming back – both to watch the Lady Aztecs and attend classes on Montezuma Mesa in the future.
A SDSU press release was used in preparation of this story.
Pacific Coast Athletic Conference Basketball Standings
(Through Jan. 25)
Men’s Basketball
Conference/Overall
San Diego City 8-0 15-5
Palomar 6-2 14-6
Miramar 5-3 10-10
Southwestern 5-3 9-11
MiraCosta 4-4 9-11
Cuyamaca 4-4 8-12
SD Mesa 2-6 7-13
Grossmont 2-6 4-15
Imperial Valley 0-8 0-20
Friday, Jan. 23
Southwestern 101, Imperial Valley 77
MiraCosta 89, San Diego Miramar 87
Grossmont 73, Cuyamaca 69
Jags pounce on Imperial Valley, win big
Southwestern College defeated Imperial Valley, 101-77, in a men’s PCAC game last Friday. Four players scored in double figures for the visiting Jaguars: Derek Edmond (28 points), Aaron Owens (13 points), Christian Gamboa (12 points) and Tres Luzey (11 points).
Owens led the winners with eight rebounds while Edmond and Adam Chemsi each collected seven boards. Keoni Henson, Tobias Okwii and Gamboa each had six rebounds. The Jags also amassed 13 steals and four blocked shots.
Women’s Basketball
Conference/Overall
MiraCosta 5-0 21-0
Palomar 5-0 14-6
San Diego City 3-2 11-10
SD Mesa 3-3 11-11
Southwestern 1-4 7-12
Cuyamaca 1-4 3-14
Imperial Valley 0-5 4-16
Friday, Jan. 23
San Diego Mesa 66, Imperial Valley 33
Palomar 82, San Diego City 56
MiraCosta 105, Southwestern 49
MiraCosta at Southwestern, Jan. 23
Photos by Phillip Brents
