SAN DIEGO — The senior quintet of Kim Villalobos, Adryana Quezada, Meghan Fiso, Jazlen Green and Cali Clark all came off the court together to a huge round of applause with 44.8 seconds remaining in a 75-61 win over Fresno State.
First they meet for a group hug with head coach Stacie Terry-Hutson, who was waiting for them at the scorers table, before embracing with their teammates and coaching staff on the bench.
It was a fitting end to the San Diego State women’s basketball team’s complete effort to close the regular season on senior night at Viejas Arena on Tuesday night.
The Aztecs (22-9, 11-7 Mountain West Conference) secured the No. 4 seed at the upcoming Mountain West Championships and will begin tournament competition against the No. 5 seed New Mexico Lobos at 2:30 p.m. on Monday, March 10 at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.
Villalobos and Veronica Sheffey led the Scarlet and Black with 14 points apiece, as Villalobos also led the team with four assists and three steals. Clark led the team with eight rebounds, while Villalobos and Quezada each swatted a pair of shots.
Each of the seniors had standout moments during the game.
Villalobos scored in every quarter but got out to a quick start. In the first quarter she made one of her trademark paint fadeaway step-backs and swatted the Bulldogs tallest player in 6-foot-4 forward Holly Griffiths.
Quezada had buckets in three quarters, including a triple in the second, and grabbed three of her six rebounds during her scoreless third quarter. She kickstarted the fourth by rotating from behind to block a layup attempt by Saga Ukkonen.
Fiso knocked down her jumper at a key moment in the third, helping the Aztecs push their lead back out to 8 points after Fresno State had trimmed it as close as 2. Her defense was also a key part of holding the Bulldogs without a field goal for nearly the final six minutes of the third quarter.
Green was also part of that third quarter lockdown performance and made her lone bucket for the game leaking ahead for the layin as the five senior lineup broke the Fresno State press. She also finished a game-best plus-14 over her 15 minutes of action.
Clark made an instant impact on the glass when she subbed in during the first quarter, snatching four rebounds in just three minutes of action. It was the 20th time this season that Clark has led the Aztecs in rebounding.
SDSU jumped out to a 23-13 lead after the first quarter thanks to Sheffey scoring 10 points, but the Bulldogs were able to cut the deficit as close as 4 points thanks to three 3-pointers in the second quarter. Kaelyn Hamilton hit a key triple to stop an 11-1 Fresno State run, and the Aztecs took a 37-30 lead at halftime.
Erin Houpt scored all 8 of her points in the third quarter as she made a pair of 3’s, including a double-crossover step back that gave the Aztecs a 12 point lead after 30 minutes.
After 3-point shooting kept the visitors in the game during the first half, making 5 of 12, SDSU held the Bulldogs to 1 of 10 from downtown in the second half. The Aztecs outscored Fresno State by 5 points in the third quarter and 2 points in the fourth quarter to secure the result.
Suffocating defense was a key again, as the Scarlet and Black held the Bulldogs (17-14, 8-10) to 36.8% shooting. It was the 17th time this year that SDSU has held an opponent under 40% from the field for the game.
After the Aztecs rallied from 18 points to upend Air Force 66-63 on Feb. 28, the Falcons 77-74 loss at New Mexico tonight meant that Fresno State was locked into the No. 6 seed. The Bulldogs will open in Las Vegas against No. 11 seed San José State at 7 p.m. on Sunday, March 9.
This will be the fourth straight year that San Diego State takes on New Mexico in the quarterfinals at the Mountain West Championships. The Aztecs won last year, 67-56, and in 2022-23 by a 69-68 margin. The Lobos took the meeting in 2021-22, 63-60.
During the regular season the road team won both contests, with UNM taking a 68-59 win at Viejas Arena on Jan. 4, then SDSU earning a 59-46 win at The Pit on Feb. 1.
This story will be updated.
