SAN DIEGO - SDSU head basketball coach Stacie Terry-Hutson has a team mantra: We Over Me. Rally towels and bracelets are emblazoned with the slogan, and that relentless pursuit of unselfish play is one of the characteristics of the 2024-25 team that earned the team a Mountain West Championship and a bid to the NCAA tournament.

That same selflessness was on display in Saturday’s home opener, where nine players combined for 19 assists and 12 players scored in a dominating performance that echoed their “We Over Me” ethos.

Before a crowd of 2,528, SDSU (1–1) overwhelmed Division II Cal State San Marcos, 95–35, after raising their Mountain West Championship banner and receiving their championship rings at Viejas Arena.

“It was really exciting, a long time coming,” said sophomore guard Alyssa Jackson. “We’ve been thinking about those rings all summer.”

Game highlights. The Aztecs raised their 2024-25 Mountain West Championship banner before getting down to business against CSU San Marcos. Credit: SDSU Athletics

However, after the ring ceremony, the Aztecs focused on playing SDSU basketball.

“These girls work their tails off and for us to celebrate and raise a banner and get out rings for last year’s accomplishments, it was really, really fun,” said SDSU’s head coach Stacie Terry-Hutson. “I said that in the beginning, and then I said, ‘We have to put that aside because we’ve got to work on getting new rings, new banners.’”

In the first half, the Aztecs beat the Cougars in just about every stat of the game. The Scarlet and Black outrebounded CSUSM (20 to 13), had fewer turnovers (4 to 12), more points in the paint (26 to 8) and second chancers (11 to 5). The Aztecs were a little cold at the 3-point line, going only 4-15 in the first half.

In the second half, SDSU came out a little slow. However, they found rhythm and extended their lead over the Cougars. The Aztecs shot 7-15 at the 3-point line, finding their hot hands while continuing to outrebound San Marcos (20 to 11). The Aztec bench scored 33 of the team’s 42 points. SDSU’s quick hands contributed eight steals while continuing their fast-break play. SDSU ended the game as well as they started, on a 20-3 run.

The 60-point win margin was SDSU’s largest ever for a home opener.

“I think today, we really found a way to play together as a team,” Jackson said. “We kind of knew that we would be a better team against San Marcos, but we knew that we still had to play Aztec basketball.”

Sophomore guards Nat Martinez and Naomi Panganiban led the Aztecs scoring with 14 and 13 points respectively. Panganiban and true freshman Kendall Mosley led the team in 3 pointers, with three each. SDSU also had five players reach double-digit points, including Nala Williams (12), Mosley (11), and Jackson (11). A common Aztec play was to drive and kick the ball out to their outside shooters.

“We have really great guards that can really shoot the ball. So we want to play faster, we want to get pieces of the paint so we can spray the ball out and shoot threes,” Terry-Hutson said. “You’re going to see a lot more threes this season from our team.”

Terry-Hutson commented on what the future of the season will and could look like for the Aztecs. “We’re playing for the future. We’re playing for the next game. We’re playing for a championship in March.”

The Aztecs now focus their sights on Cal State Northridge (2-0) on Nov. 12 at Viejas Arena at 6 p.m. Purchase tickets here or watch the game on the Mountain West Network. The first 500 fans will receive free SDSU license plate frames.