AZTECS HAVE A BALL ON AND OFF COURT
SDSU women’s start best in 27 years, at 9-2 using defense
There’s the 38.6 percent shooting behind the 3-point arc, which ranks 15th nationally. Over the past two games, it’s been a mindblowing 63.3 percent (19 of 30).
There are the defensive stats: 51.7 points allowed (11th nationally), 33.7 percent shooting (17th), 24.2 percent 3-point shooting (18th), 11.6 steals (26th).
There’s the plus-16.5 scoring margin.
But if you really want to know why the San Diego State women’s basketball team is 9-2, its best start in 27 seasons, the answer might be what the players did last week away from the court: They baked cookies and decorated them, just because.
“You’d think we’d get sick of each other, because we’re with each other every single day,” said senior guard Mercedes Staples, who is averaging a team-high 11.8 points. “We’re just wanting to do fun things all the time. We’re with each other 24/7. You’ll always see us together.”
Coach Stacie Terry-Hutson,
in her 10th season at SDSU, smiles. This is why they went on a retreat to Big Bear before the season, why they went to Sea World as a team.
She added four transfers to a group that returned three starters, seven letterwomen and 74 percent of the offense. Yummy Morris, the adopted sister of SDSU teammate Alex Crain, appeared in 107 games for TCU. Abby Prohaska played 74 times for Notre Dame, including nine in the NCAA Tournament and one in the 2019 championship game.
“The thing I’m most proud of with this team and this staff is we were able to jell those newcomers with our kids that were here,” Terry-Hutson said. “That is not easy. The chemistry piece is big in women’s basketball, and if you don’t have your chemistry, it could be really bad for your program.
“We push it. We try very hard to protect it. We have a lot of conversations about it. … They’re all sacrificing their individual games to win. We got the right people sitting in the right seats of the bus, and that’s really made the difference.”
Morris and junior Kim Villalobos slid into the starting lineup alongside returnees Sophia Ramos, Asia Avinger and Staples. Prohaska
has started twice and come off the bench nine times. All six average between 7.5 and 11.8 points, and more than 60 percent of Aztecs’ baskets have been assisted.
They have climbed to No. 74 in the NCAA’s NET metric, second best in the Mountain West behind 9-1 UNLV, which is 73. Part of that can be attributed to a strategic schedule, which opened with an 86-48 loss at No. 2 Stanford and has featured only one top-100 opponent since. The other loss was 65-56 against USF (111 in NET) at San Francisco’s Chase Center, but that was followed by convincing wins against Sacramento State (70-59)
and USD (68-45).
Next up are a pair of nonconference games in West Palm Peach, Fla.: Miami (Ohio) today and 9-2 Georgia on Wednesday.
The other factor, though, is maturity. Of the 10 players averaging double-figure minutes, eight are juniors or seniors. Six are transfers, five from power conference programs.
“It’s not rocket science,” Terry-Hutson said. “We’ve taken a page out of Coach (Steve) Fisher and Coach (Brian) Dutcher’s book. Transfers have really helped their (men’s) program, and we’ve done the same with ours. Being older, having power conference experience and also the extra COVID year have helped us. They’re just a year older, more mature, understand what we’re trying to do.”
That’s another way of saying they’re embracing the game’s less glamorous side.
“We made a big emphasis improving on the defensive side of the ball,” said TerryHutson, whose team is allowing 12 points per game fewer than last season. “We have some scorers on our team, and with the recruiting we’ve been able to do in the (transfer) portal, we added a lot of toughness to our roster. The defensive piece has really been the focus. They’ve bought into that. They understand you have to defend to win.”
It’s what you’d expect from someone married to Justin Hutson, the former SDSU men’s assistant who is currently head coach at Fresno State. Hutson is known as a defensive guru, and his wife admits to tapping into that knowledge, just as he solicits offensive input from her.
The result is the first 8-0 start at home since 2008-09. The coach then was Beth Burns, who won 295 games in 16 seasons over two tenures at SDSU. Burns had seven NCAA Tournament appearances and 11 winning seasons, including 25-7 and 27-7 in her final two.
Big sneakers to fill. TerryHutson, an El Capitan High alum who had been an assistant at six previous stops but never a head coach, has no winning seasons or NCAA Tournament appearances in nine years. Career record: 119-163.
But Athletic Director John David Wicker stuck with her, offering her a fouryear extension in 2020 that pays her just under $250,000 per season, saying “the program outside of wins and losses is night and day compared to what the program was before, it’s in such better shape.”
Terry-Hutson was asked last week if, given the uphill climb, she ever regretted taking the job.
“Beth did a phenomenal job when she was here and was able to win a lot of games,” she said. “It’s a great job, I’m grateful to have it. Did I make mistakes? Of course. We all do. I have a book that I keep of things that I would do differently if I had an opportunity to do it again.
“I’m proud of our kids. I’m grateful for our staff and what they’ve been able to do. Never did I ever think it was a mistake to take this job. This is my hometown, and I want to do San Diego State right.”