With the holidays fast approaching, the San Diego State women’s basketball team gave their fans an early present with a blowout 83-54 win over the Boise State Broncos on Saturday afternoon at Viejas Arena.Naomi Panganiban had 18 points on 7 of 10 shooting, Kennedy Lee scored 16 points with five rebounds and freshman guard Kendall Mosely had 11 points off the bench in her first appearance since Nov. 24.
SAN DIEGO – With the holidays fast approaching, the San Diego State women’s basketball team gave their fans an early present with a blowout 83-54 win over the Boise State Broncos on Saturday afternoon at Viejas Arena.
Naomi Panganiban had 18 points on 7 of 10 shooting, Kennedy Lee scored 16 points with five rebounds and freshman guard Kendall Mosely had 11 points off the bench in her first appearance since Nov. 24.
San Diego State (8-3, 2-0 Mountain West) ambushed Boise State (9-4, 0-2) out of the gate and never let the Broncos back into it, having their best shooting game of the season at 54.5% from the field. The Aztecs never trailed, and put together runs of 11-0 and 15-0 in the first two quarters to blow the game wide open.
About the only thing that didn’t go the Aztecs’ way in the opening half was a possession just under the four minute mark in the second quarter where they missed four straight shots, but got the offensive rebounds on all before turning it over.
So, how dominant was the opening 20 by the Scarlet and Black?
SDSU may as well have been shooting at a double-sized rim, scorching the string at a 61.3% (19 of 31) clip from the field while making 7 of 10 from downtown to more than double up Boise State at the half, 50-24.
Panganiban was a major driver, putting up 10 of her 16 first half points in the opening quarter while making 6 of 8 shots and splashing her first five tries. Lee also had 10 points in the first half, while nine of the 10 players that saw the floor put up points.
The 27-point first quarter, SDSU’s fourth-highest 10 minute scoring total for the season, saw the hosts make a season-best 71.4% on 10 of 14 shooting. Mosley knocked down a top of the key 3-pointer, one for five for the Aztecs in the frame.
On the other end Boise State, who entered the game leading the conference averaging 72.4 points per game while shooting 39.0% from 3 and ranked second with a 43.3% overall field goal percentage, made just two shots in the second quarter.
The Broncos were shut out for the final 6:33 of the half and missed their last 10 attempts from the field, as SDSU notched their 10th quarter holding opponents to single-digit scoring for the year. Only the 5 points DII Cal State San Marcos managed in the fourth quarter of SDSU’s win on Nov. 8 were fewer than the 6 points Boise State managed in the second stanza.
As one would expect, things cooled for the Aztecs in the third quarter, as they missed their first three shots from the field. CJ Latta knocked down a triple, giving all nine of SDSU’s regular rotation players points. Boise State outscored the hosts 17-14 in the third, but their brief use of a 2-1-2 press did little to generate turnovers.
Moseley added 8 points in the fourth quarter, finishing the game a perfect 4 for 4 from the field while stroking all three of her 3’s as SDSU finished the second half out-scoring the Broncos by 3. Maria Konstantinidou finished with a game-high seven rebounds, while Nala Williams topped the afternoon with five assists and Bailey Barnhard added 9 points and five rebounds.
The Aztecs had a 42-26 edge on the glass, with four players grabbing five or more boards.
Boise State’s Mountain West Preseason Player of the Year forward Tatum Thompson was held to just 2 points on 1 of 7 shooting, while fellow preseason all-conference selection guard Natalie Pasco managed just 5 points and one made 3-ball — she was averaging 2.8 makes from downtown per game coming in.
SDSU will be off for the next 11 days before resuming Mountain West Conference play against Air Force on Wednesday, Dec. 31. Tipoff against the Falcons (7-5, 1-1) for the New Years Eve day game is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Viejas Arena.
This story will be updated.
Category: General Sports
