SAN DIEGO — It’s been a week of buzzer-beating magic for the basketball teams on The Mesa.
Veronica Sheffey made a running pull-up as time expired to complete a fourth quarter comeback and give San Diego State a 59-58 win over the UNLV Lady Rebels on Saturday afternoon at Viejas Arena.
The Aztecs (15-6, 4-5 Mountain West Conference) overcame a 47-39 deficit to start the final frame by allowing the conference leaders just one field goal make and four points over the last 4:30 to earn their first win over UNLV (16-5, 8-1) since the 2019-20 season. It snapped a 22 game conference winning streak for the Lady Rebels as well as a 23 game Mountain West road winning streak.
“It was needed,” said head coach Stacie Terry-Hutson. “It was a hard-fought win, a close game that we kept ourselves in through our defense… I thought this game we were pretty consistent with our effort defensively (and) offensively.”
Sheffey finished with a game-high 16 points, with 6 points coming in the final quarter, while Nat Martinez added 12 points and Naomi Panganiban had 10 points.
Another angle of @vsheffey2's game-winner https://t.co/B3OEYnTrn9 pic.twitter.com/BRVmhiUiWr
— San Diego State Women's Basketball (@Aztec_WBB) January 25, 2025
“We had drawn up a play to get me the ball, but it kind of broke down a little bit, so I just knew I had to get it and score somehow,” Sheffey said. “I know they’re pretty aggressive, so I was trying to take it to the rim, get into contact and hopefully make a tough play.”
The Aztecs viewed the matchup with UNLV as a “must win” after a potentially dispiriting midweek loss at home to San José State. With a focused two-day break from practice, the team met as players before the game to buy in and lock in.
“(We) talked about what we wanted to focus on and just how we wanted to go out there and have fun too,” Sheffey said. “We wanted it to be joyful for us. I think that brings out the best in everybody.”
After trailing since a pair of free throws by Macie James with three seconds left in the first quarter, the Aztecs cut the UNLV lead that was as big as 10 points in the opening moments of the second half down to 6 points eight times.
Each time the three-time defending Mountain West regular season and tournament champions had a response, until inside the final five minutes of the fourth quarter.
After McKinna Brackens made a contest paint bucket to push the lead back out to 54-48, Cali Clark (who had a game-high nine rebounds) nailed a left corner 3-pointer to make it a one-possession game. Sheffey and Brackens made baskets, and the Aztecs made all four of their free throw attempts down the stretch — two by Sheffey and two by Panganiban — while Amarachi Kimpson made 2 of 4 for UNLV to leave the door open.
“I knew we were going to give ourselves a chance,” Terry-Hutson said. “(Assistant coach) John Silver did a great job on the scout… We were prepared defensively, and they bought in defensively and we were able to execute and get stops when we needed to.”
The Aztecs had started quickly before a crowd of over 2,000 people, the largest since the conference opener, making seven of their first 10 shots from the field as Adryana Quezada and Kim Villalobos stretched the defense with long 2-pointers and Martinez and Sheffey were able to drive the paint for scores.
A 7-0 run gave the Scarlet and Black an early 6 point lead, then a driving score by Bailey Barnhard and a Sheffey pull-up in the lane made it 15-10 SDSU with 3:20 left in the opening quarter.
The Lady Rebels closed the first with the last 6 points and then extended the run to 13-0 to take a 23-15 lead. San Diego State went scoreless for a 7:14 stretch straddling the quarters as they missed seven straight shots until a Martinez drive and score at the 6:04 mark, with that being the only make over a 1 of 11 spell from the field. The visitors ran the lead up to 10 points once before ultimately taking a 34-26 lead at the half.
James scored 13 points off the bench for UNLV while Kimpson had 10 points, and Brackens and Meadow Roland each had 9 points. Despite making 8 of 20 from beyond the arc, the Lady Rebels were held to nearly 16 points fewer than their season average and had less than 60 points for the second time this season.
“I knew they would get up for UNLV because it’s UNLV,” Terry-Hutson said. “We have to get up for everybody the same way we prepared for UNLV — that’s the message moving forward.”
San Diego State heads into a bye before beginning the second half of the conference slate at New Mexico on Feb.1. The next home game for the Scarlet and Black at Viejas Arena will be at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 8.
“It’s going to be a fight every single game,” Sheffey said. “Just playing together, staying focused and taking every possession taking care of the ball. We can’t have missed possession or bad shots. We’re trying to learn more about each other and stay locked in to those principles."
This story was updated at 4:33
