Local sports report: SDSU, UCSD women start hot in quest for NCAA Tournament return

The women’s basketball teams at San Diego State and UC San Diego reached the 2025 NCAA Tournament by winning their conference tournaments.

This season, both the Aztecs and Tritons are off to perfect starts in conference play.

San Diego State improved to 4-0 in the Mountain West by scoring a 72-55 win at Wyoming (4-9, 1-3) on Saturday after defeating Air Force 62-51 at home earlier in the week. The Aztecs are 10-3 overall and winners of six straight games.

SDSU outscored Wyoming 40-16 over the middle two periods behind forward Bailey Barnhard; the Del Norte High School graduate led the Aztecs with a career-high 21 points on 10-for-14 shooting. Barnhard had 29 points in the Aztecs’ two wins last week.

“Bailey did a great job getting the ball in places where she could be successful,” said Aztecs coach Stacie Terry-Hutson. “We all know how good she can be.”

Naomi Panganiban (La Jolla Country Day) had 21 points and Nala Williams had 21 points and nine rebounds.

Meanwhile, UCSD (8-5) improved to 3-0 in Big West play by winning 65-54 at Hawaii (6-8, 0-4) Saturday after defeating Cal Poly 75-54 at home on New Year’s Day.

UCSD had four players in double figures in its win at Hawaii.

Forward Erin Condron had 16 points and was backed by guard Rosa Smith (14), Sabrina Ma (13) and freshman Lev Feiman (10). Smith had 35 points, nine rebounds, 12 assists and five steals in the two wins. The 6-foot-4 junior Condron had 30 points and 10 rebounds, while Ma had 25 points.

More women’s basketball

Cal State San Marcos (6-5 overall, 3-3 in the CCAA) also scored a pair of conference road wins last week.

The Cougars scored a 71-54 win at Stanislaus State on Sunday after defeating UC Merced 70-64 on Friday. Forward Kaity Haan had 41 points and 14 rebounds in the two wins. Tatum Tamashiro had 27 points over the two games, while guards Maddie Leiva and Kate Bobadilla each hit four 3s over the two games.

Point Loma Nazarene (9-4, 5-2) split a pair of PacWest games, defeating Menlo 85-69 after losing to Dominican 84-70.

Guard Hannah Golan had 34 points, 18 rebounds, four assists and six steals in the two games. Center Eiley Tippins had 32 points, 15 rebounds and four steals, while forward Ruby Vlahov had 30 points and 13 rebounds and guard Izzy Navarro (Cathedral Catholic High School) had 22 points, 19 assists and six steals.

USD (6-11, 0-4) suffered four straight West Coast Conference losses in a span of eight days. Kylie Ray scored a total of 80 points over the four games.

Men’s basketball

UC San Diego returned to LionTree Arena Saturday night to defeat Hawaii 83-73. The Tritons are 12-3 overall and 2-1 in Big West play.

Forward Bol Dengdit has recently come on strong for the Tritons along with guards Alex Chaikin and freshman Hudson Mayes. Dengdit had 19 points against Hawaii after having a second straight double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds against Cal Poly.

Chaikin came off the bench to score 21 points in 29 minutes Saturday and has 51 points over UCSD’s past three games. Mayes also had a 12-point, 12-rebound double-double against Cal Poly.

Defending PacWest men’s champion Point Loma Nazarene improved to 10-3 overall and 5-2 in NCAA Division II conference play.

PLNU won at Dominican 87-62 Thursday and at Menlo (74-51) Saturday, with 11 Sea Lions scoring in each victory. Guard Tyce Paulsen scored 21 points against Dominion.

Cal State San Marcos (6-5, 3-3) fell to Stanislaus State 72-68 Saturday after defeating UC Merced 62-57. San Diego City College products Keavie Love (36 points) and Dexter Stratton (26 points, 14 rebounds) paced the Coyotes on the trip.

JC basketball

Men’s and women’s community college teams will get back to full action this week.

The undefeated MiraCosta College women (15-0) are ranked sixth in California and play for the first time in 19 days when they open Pacific Coast Athletic Conference play Wednesday at Imperial Valley College. Palomar College (9-6) is tied for 17th in the California Community College Athletic Association rankings and hosts 22nd-ranked Mesa (8-7) on Friday.

The Palomar College men (10-4, 2-0 PCAC) are ranked 17th in the 3C2A rankings, with defending PCAC champion San Diego City College (9-5) ranked 18th. The Comets are at Cuyamaca on Wednesday and Miramar on Friday. The Knights are at IVC on Wednesday and Cuyamaca on Friday.