On the eve of the conference tournament last week, the Mountain West named its 2024-2025 women’s all-conference team.
San Diego State point guard Veronica Sheffey was voted onto the 10-player first team … and that was pretty much it for the Aztecs.
No other first-team or honorable-mention selections. No Aztec was named to the all-defense team, although the Aztecs ranked second in team defense in conference games and first overall. Naomi Panganiban and Nat Martinez were named to the all-freshman team, although both three-time freshman of the week winners were ed over for the freshman of the year award.
Top-seeded UNLV had two first-team selections, one of three honorable-mention picks, freshman of the year and sixth player of the year Meadow Roland plus coach of the year Lindy La Rocque. Second-seeded Wyoming had four honorees, led by player of the year Allyson Fertig. Colorado State, New Mexico and Air Force all had more representation on the All-Mountain West teams than San Diego State.
And the winner of the conference tournament? Fourth-seeded San Diego State.
For Aztecs coach Stacie Terry-Hutson, there has been both a mantra and a theme to this season.
Mantra: “We over me.”
Theme: “Depth is our superpower.”
The Aztecs’ rotation is made up of 10 players. No one averages more than 30 minutes per game and no one in the rotation averages less than a dozen. Sheffey is SDSU’s leading scorer at 11.4 points a game. Panganiban (10.5 ppg) is the only other Aztec in double figures, although six players average 7.3 points or more per game.
The 25-9 Aztecs have committed fewer turnovers and have more steals and blocked shots than their opponents. They also have more blocked shots, even though they are overall shorter than most teams they face.
And in winning the Mountain West Tournament 72-68 in triple overtime against a much taller Wyoming team, the Aztecs also proved they can adapt.
Terry-Hutson called on 6-foot-3 center Cali Clark, who was making just her 14th start of the season, to neutralize Fertig and the Wyoming front line.
How’d she do? Clark became the first Division I player this century to have 12 points, 18 rebounds, six steals and three blocked shots in the same game while keeping Fertig a basket below her season average in 15 extra minutes.
“Post defense starts everywhere, that was the real emphasis for this game,” said Clark. “It’s doing more than what’s on the stats sheet.”
“Our defensive effort was incredible against Wyoming,” said Sheffey. “Cali started it all. But our post defense originated on the outside, taking away the es to their inside players.
“I liked our game plan, and we bought in.”
“The staff did a great job with the game plan,” said Terry-Hutson. “Our post defense started on the wings. We were undersized at every position the majority of the game. We brilliantly executed our plan.”
The Aztecs are enjoying the moment while awaiting Sunday’s NCAA Tournament bracket-reveal show. In the women’s NCAA Tournament, top seeds host the first round of regionals.
“Winning the Mountain West was kind of an unreal moment for me. … Having a reward for all the hard work we have done,” said Clark. “I thought, ‘We did it, we just did it.’ We’ve accomplished a lot. But the job is not done yet.”
Or, as Terry-Hutson put it: “Winning the championship wasn’t a fluke. We knew we were close. And ‘we over me’ is kind of what we talked about all season in our approach. We’re much better when we share. … They can all say: ‘My sacrifice ed for something. Everyone on this team played a role.’”
The Aztecs are 20-2 this season when three or more players score in double figures. They’re 5-7 when fewer than three players score in double figures, no matter how many points a single player scores.
“The Mountain West Tournament showed them,” said Sheffey. “We had more players who deserved honors recognition. It was unfortunate.”
