SAN DIEGO – With a power conference team traveling to Viejas Arena for the first time in three seasons, the San Diego State women’s basketball team couldn’t overcome a season-high in turnovers, dropping a 64-55 loss to the Colorado Buffaloes on Wednesday night at Viejas Arena.
Junior guard Natalia Martinez made a 3-pointer with 63 seconds remaining in the third quarter to pull SDSU (3-1) within 43-40, but Colorado (3-0) scored the next 11 points in the game to take control in front of an announced crowd of 2,427. The Aztecs turned the ball over 21 times, 15 in the first half, which the Buffaloes turned into a 13-6 edge while dominating 34-10 in the paint.
The final quarter saw senior guard Eva DeChent scored 9 of her SDSU-high 13 points, first making a triple and then scoring a pair of and-ones to bring the Scarlet and Black back as close as within 8 points at 2:48 to play, but much like the entire night Colorado had answers. Preseason All-Big 12 Conference selection senior guard Zyanna Walker scored a game-high 17 points, while the Buffaloes also got 12 points off the bench from fifth-year center Anete Adler.
The decisive moments came as the Aztecs struggled through a 1-for-12 stretch from the floor that spanned 9:41 between the third and fourth quarters. After the Adler score to end the third, CU got the first 9 points of the fourth for a lead that would remain multiple possessions the rest of the way.
After going 0-for-7 in the opening half from downtown, fifth-year forward Kennedy Lee popped for SDSU’s first of the game 1:15 into the third quarter. It sparked a 8-2 spurt that saw a Bailey Barnhard bucket and then driving-and-one from Martinez to pull within 4 points. The junior forward finished with 10 points, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks.
But Walker had an answer as she seemingly did all night, responding with a top of the key triple near the end of a possession. Barnard responded with a depth charge of her own, but the Buffaloes got the next 5 points with Walker nailing another jumper with nearly 4 minutes remaining.
The Aztecs dashed off a 9-3 stretch, with Martinez nailing the 3, and SDSU got another possession. But after a miss, Anete Adler broke free for a transition layup to make it 45-40 Colorado after three.
Colorado’s length gave the Aztecs plenty of pause on the offensive end early, shrinking the driving and passing lanes, as well as forcing extra moments of thinking before attempting shots. SDSU turned it over on their first three possessions and five times before the first media timeout.
Barnhard knocked down SDSU’s first bucket of the game on a post dropstep pull-up, then Dionne Madjo converted on a twisting post score. But the Buffaloes forced misses on seven consecutive shots, dashing off a 10-0 run on points from four different players.
Junior guard Alayna Kraus broke the scoreless spell with a curling jumper at the free-throw-line on SDSU’s final possession of the quarter, snapping a 6:25 scoreless stretch and making it 16-6 CU after one.
Lee battled her first bucket of the game in to open scoring in the second, then DeChent was able to shake free for her first diving score. But an and-one from sophomore forward Logyn Greer then a missed offensive assignment in the half court prompted Terry-Hutson to call a time out at the 7:44 mark.
The Buffaloes pushed their lead back out to 11, then another midrange jumper by Kraus seemed to juice the offense with some confidence, kicking off a stretch where they out-scored CU 10-2, with junior guard Nayli Padilla pulling the game within 3. SDSU held CU without a field goal for 5:33 until preseason All Big-12 selection Walker made a deep 2 with the shot clock expiring.
It led to the visitors scoring the final 5 points of the half, taking a 28-20 lead behind a 14-8 edge in the paint and 10-6 off turnovers.
San Diego State had not turned the ball over more than 20-times in a 40-minute game since the 2022-23 season. The 21 turnovers were the most in regulation since 23 giveaways in a loss at San Francisco on Dec. 4, 2022.
The loss ended a 16-game home winning streak, one shy of the program record. SDSU has not beaten a Power-4 conference team at Viejas Arena since a 63-57 win over Wisconsin on Nov. 29, 2015, and have wins over P4 schools in each of the past two seasons — winning at Kansas State last year and beating Wisconsin in a tournament game in 2024-25.
After opening the season with a four-game sprint over a nine-day stretch, the Aztecs have over a week before heading out for their first road contest of the season. Up next is a trip to Northridge, Calif. to face the CSUN Matadors on Thursday, Nov. 19.
After finishing last season 10-20, and in eighth place in the Big West with a 4-16 conference record, CSUN was slotted in eighth in the preseason conference coaches poll. The Matadors opened the season with a home win over La Sierra before dropping an 82-59 decision at Boise State on Nov. 10. They will have an away game at University of San Diego on Nov. 14 before welcoming the Aztecs.
SDSU-CSUN tips off at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 19 at Premier American Credit Union Arena in Northridge — the Aztecs are 11-5 all time against the Matadors and have won the past two meetings, but dropped their most recent road contest back in the 2018-19 season, 77-74 in overtime. The game will be streamed on ESPN-Plus.