LAS VEGAS – For one of the few times this season, the San Diego State women’s basketball team looked like the side without a returning senior and just four regular players with three years experience or more — young.
It came at the worst time, as the top seeded Aztecs saw their Mountain West tournament come to an unceremonious early end at the hands of the seasoned No. 9 seed Air Force Falcons, 83-76 on Sunday afternoon at the Thomas & Mack Center.
"I thought we were pretty one-dimensional offensively, so I'll go back and watch that. I think we can learn from that," said head coach Stacie Terry-Hutson. "Defensively, we have to play with a little bit more toughness and discipline than we did (today), and we have for the majority of the season."
Naomi Panganiban scored 29 points to lead all SDSU (25-5) scorers, but the Scarlet and Black went cold for a 3:36 stretch in the fourth quarter, during which Milahnie Perry and the Falcons turned a 3-point deficit into a 63-58 lead that they would hold onto the rest of the way.
It was the Mountain West’s first quarterfinal upset of a No. 1 seed since San José State topped Colorado State in 2015 and the fourth time the top seed dropped in their first tournament game.
The Air Force (15-17) senior combination carried them in critical moments, with Perry scoring a career-high 33 points while Emily Adams added 20 points, going 10 of 11 at the free throw line and grabbing eight rebounds.
"We tried...to double (Perry) on the screens and also to try to blue on the on-ball screens," senior guard Nala Williams said. " Our communication wasn't great today, and that's due to me, like a big part of it. I take big responsibility for her game, but she also played an amazing basketball game as well, so I give her credit."
Air Force out-rebounded SDSU 33-22 for the game and 20-9 in the second half, where they outscored the Aztecs 57-44.
"I just didn't think we did a great job of blocking out and paying attention to the details; something that we've done a good job of for the majority of the season," Terry-Hutson said. "They just flat-out beat us to the ball. They beat us to 50/50s and, again, made big-time plays when they needed to.
"I thought they played a really good game. Again, 83 points from an Air Force team is not normal, and they made a lot of shots when they needed to."
The game turned when the Aztecs committed one of their nine turnovers for the game when the Falcons pressed after Alexis Cortez scored a put-back off a step-back miss by Perry. Defensive Player of the Year Jayda McNabb stole Bailey Barnhard’s in-bounds pass and was fouled, kicking off an 8-0 Air Force run for a lead they’d never give up.
Panganiban scored 20 of her points in the second half and made three straight triples to pull within 79-76 with 17 seconds remaining, but the Falcons made their free throws down the stretch. For the game, Air Force hit 27 of 31 free throws, while the Aztecs made 11 of 16 and 9 of 13 in the second half.
"They're a tough, competitive team. They executed their scout well. We did in glimpses, but what we did we just have to watch film and learn from it," said Natalia Martinez, who finished with seven points and two steals but also committed a game-high four turnovers.
Out of halftime Air Force seemingly couldn’t miss, turning around a 6-point deficit thanks to an 8-of-11 shooting quarter. Alexis Cortez, Perry and Keelie O’Holllaren all hit 3-pointers, as the Falcons twice put SDSU in 5 point holes.
But each time SDSU clawed back thanks to individual spurts, as first it was Hamilton drawing an and-one on a driving score and then a jumper. Then inside the final 94 seconds of the third quarter Panganiban converted a pair of free throws, then knocked down her second 3-pointer of the game.
The teams traded the lead five times over the final minute, with the Falcons taking a 55-54 lead after three after a pair of Adams free throws.
"It wasn't our best and cleanest game, but it was defensively where we lost the game," Terry-Hutson said.
"I mean, we gave Emily 20 points who played fantastic against us up there as well. We didn't defend her very well. Obviously Milahnie had a fantastic game. Then McNabb hit some threes that we weren't expecting either."
SDSU took advantage of wide open paths to the rim left by the Air Force defense, getting their first four points out of the half-court set on straight-line drives to the basket. Nala Williams scored the first two of the game, getting her second on the fast break after a steal by Martinez.
Perry knocked down the first three field goals of the game for Air Force, establishing her pull-up elbow and mid-post jump shots early. Defensive duties were shared between Williams and Kaelyn Hamilton, but the senior all-conference selection mixed her moves to score 8 of her 12 first half points in the opening 10 minutes.
While the Scarlet and Black led for the entirety of the first quarter, they did not attempt a 3-pointer until just over two minutes remaining. The first didn’t fall until Kennedy Lee nailed a long ball nearly three minutes into the second quarter to stop a 6-0 spurt by the Falcons to start that gave Air Force their first lead.
The lead changed hands five times in the second quarter with three ties, but after a Perry layup gave Air Force a 24-21 lead with 4:48 before half, the Aztecs didn’t allow a field goal the rest of the way.
SDSU scored 11 of the final 13 points in the quarter, buoyed by getting the ball to Lee and Maria Konstantinidou in the paint. The final 7-0 kick for the Aztecs came when Panganiban took advantage of a defensive switch that had Adams marking her, so the guard rocked her to sleep with the dribble before stepping back and filling up a 3-pointer.
The 6 point edge at halftime mirrored the regular season finale, as SDSU closed again with a late transition layup — this time instead of Hamilton breaking free it was Panganiban finishing off the 32-26 scoreline. But after getting swept in the regular season series, the Falcons got the last laugh and ended a four game losing streak against the Aztecs.
San Diego State will await their postseason future, as the program’s seventh Mountain West regular season championship and 67 NET ranking coming into the Mountain West Championships should be plenty appealing for the non-NCAA postseason tournaments. Terry-Hutson specifically mentioned the team is hopeful for a WBIT invite.
"We'll go back and watch film and just kind of get back to who we are and what got us to 25-5 thus far and hoping to play quite a few more games of basketball," Terry-Hutson said.
This story was updated at 5:08 p.m.