Local college roundup: SDSU, USD women win

San Diego State women’s basketball coach Stacie Terry-Hutson says her team has yet to put together a complete game this season.

But the Aztecs came very close Saturday afternoon in an 83-54 victory over Boise State in a Mountain West Conference game at Viejas Arena.

The Aztecs downed seven of their first 10 3-point attempts, outrebounded the taller Broncos 15-6 in the second quarter and led 50-24 at halftime while improving to 8-3 overall and 2-0 in conference play.

All three San Diego NCAA Division I women’s teams made their final pre-Christmas appearances on their home courts Saturday afternoon.

• Olivia Owens hit a tie-breaking 3-pointer with 45 seconds left to lead the University of San Diego (6-7) to a 56-55 non-conference win over Cal State Fullerton (5-6) at the Jenny Craig Pavilion.

• And UC San Diego (6-5) was upset 71-68 by Northern Arizona (4-9) in a non-conference game at LionTree Arena.

Although the Aztecs’ first-half momentum didn’t carry over into the third quarter, San Diego State never trailed against the Broncos (9-4, 0-2). The Aztecs’ domination allowed starting guards Naomi Panganiban, Nat Martinez and Nala Williams to sit out the fourth quarter as 11 different players scored and pulled down at least one rebound in SDSU’s fourth straight win.

Plus, forwards Bailey Barnhard, Kennedy Lee and Maria Konstantinidou neutralized Boise State’s taller front line.

”They had size on us at all positions,” said Terry-Hutson. “But we did a really good job making it hard for them. I was proud of our consistency rebounding and on the defensive side. They have three guards that shoot 45% from 3-point range. We locked into the scouting report and executed defensively.

“We’re still growing. We’re still very new. We got three good quarters in today. This was a really good win. Boise State is a very good team with veteran players.”

Panganiban (La Jolla Country Day) led the Aztecs with 18 points, 10 of which came in the Aztecs’ 27-point opening quarter during which they went 10 for 14 from the floor. Lee finished with 16 points and five rebounds. Freshman guard Kendall Mosley came off the bench to score 11 points and was 3 for 3 from beyond the arc.

Barnhard (Del Norte) had nine points and five rebounds. Konstantinidou had seven rebounds in 14 ½ minutes – two coming during a run when the Aztecs controlled the ball for more than a full minute while grabbing four straight offensive rebounds.

“I think the whole team was locked in from the beginning,” said Panganiban, who earlier this week presented each of her teammates headphones for Christmas. “We knew they were a good team. They can really shoot. We were prepared to play defense.”

Terry-Hutson said she was most pleased about giving her reserves considerable playing time.

“We have great depth,” she said. “I have to find more creative ways to get these kids more minutes. One of the keys today was how our bench played. I think Mosley is going to be a phenomenal player. Right now, she’s playing behind two honors guards (Panganiban and Martinez).”

Owens paces USD

Owens led the Toreros with 13 points, nine rebounds and three steals while playing 38 minutes. Twin sisters Hallie and Jayden Rhodes scored 12 and eight points, respectively.

Although Fullerton battled back to twice tie the game in the fourth quarter, USD never trailed after Jayden Rhodes hit back-to-back threes in the second quarter to give the Toreros their first lead.

USD has won two in a row.

Rally falls short

Forward Erin Condron paced the four Tritons in double figures with 16 points, six rebounds and two blocks. But UCSD just failed to fully recover from a 45-27 halftime deficit, although the Tritons outscored Northern Arizona 19-4 in the third quarter and pulled even at 65-65 with 1:27 to play.

Makayla Rose and Dymonique Maxie each scored 14 points for UCSD and Maxie also had six assists and three steals. Sabrina Ma scored 12 points.

UCSD was only 5 for 23 (21.7%) from 3-point range.