SAN DIEGO – Tonight, there was no need for overtime. The San Diego State women’s basketball team left no doubt, getting double-digit scoring nights from all five starters in a 80-62 over the UNLV Lady Rebels on Wednesday night at Viejas Arena.
Naomi Panganiban’s 20 points paced SDSU (21-4, 15-1 Mountain West), topping the 20-point mark for the second time against UNLV (17-9, 12-4) and fourth time this season. Nat Martinez scored 5 of her 13 points in the fourth quarter, which included a killer deep 3-pointer with the shot clock expiring down the stretch, while Nala Williams notched her second double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
"The fourth quarter is always crucial, so we know we have to come out with out best and give it all we got, and I think we did that today," Panganiban said.
Meanwhile the post players played key roles as well, with Kennedy Lee also recording her second second double-double 16 points with 10 rebounds, while Bailey Barnhard had 14 points with eight rebounds, a pair of blocks and finishing a game-best plus-33.
"What I love about this team is, (the bench) knew that our first five were cooking and were doing some great things, and this group is so unselfish and they were all cheering for the win — there's no asterisk by their name, they all get the 'W,'" said head coach Stacie Terry-Hutson.
With the win, San Diego State has the opportunity to clinch a share of the Mountain West regular season championship on Saturday afternoon against Fresno State, which would be the program’s first since the 2012-13 season. SDSU defeated UNLV in the Mountain West Tournament semifinals en route to winning that championship last season.
After allowing a game-tying 3-pointer to start the second half, SDSU never trailed following a driving score by Williams, building a 7-point lead thanks to an 8-2 run sparked by a Lee put back and-one and Williams raining a triple. Mariah Elohim hit a depth change to end the third with SDSU leading 55-51.
But after surrendering a 10 point lead in the final five minutes of the first meeting, the Scarlet and Black closed emphatically, getting the 7 of the first 10 points to start the fourth. The decisive run with a 12-0 stretch began by Lee scoring down low. It ended with Martinez’s exclamation-point buzzer beater with 3:35 to play, drawing the biggest roar from the crowd of the evening.
Ardie Crenshaw - The Sporting Tribune
SDSU guard Nat Martinez (10) makes a running layup during an NCAA Women’s Basketball game against UNLV Wednesday February 18, 2026 in San Diego, California.
"We respect everybody, but we were very prepared going into this game for what they wanted to do," Terry-Hutson said. "It's that time of year where there's enough film and you can scout, that we all know what each other's tendencies are.
"I was really proud of our kids because we were able to make plays with them knowing our sets. That's what the end of the year is about, you've got to make plays and I thought our kids made a couple more plays than they did."
The Aztecs made 11 from downtown, their 10th time with 10 or more this season, while also out-scoring the Lady Rebels 12-6 in the paint in the fourth quarter for a 34-32 edge for the game.
Meadow Roland had 18 points and 15 rebounds, while Aaliyah Alexander scored 18 points and Shelbee Brown had 10 rebounds. But outside of Roland and Alexander combining to go 13-for-28 from the field, the rest of the UNLV lineup went 11-for-36, and the remainder of the roster only had 15 rebounds as Roland and Brown combined for 25.
"We knew that there it was going to be a big challenge (in the post) and I thought (Lee and Barnhard) not only scored the ball but they did a great job defensively helping each other," Terry-Hutson said. "I was really more impressed with their defensive effort than their offensive effort, I see that all the time... but the defensive rebounding and the defensive help that they gave today really helped us get the win."
SDSU relied on their 3-point shooting to open things up for their offense, knocking down their first three field goals from beyond the arc while missing their first seven 2-point attempts. After Barnhard, Panganiban and Martinez hit from outside, Williams scored on back-to-back possessions by getting inside on a drive and then putting back her own miss.
Barnhard was an early catalyst as well, hitting a 3-pointer and then on the next two defensive sets blocking a shot then drawing a foul. UNLV had a 7-0 spurt to take a lead with 4:13 left in the initial quarter, but Barnhard closed the quarter with a made jumper to give the Aztecs a 16-14 lead.
Ardie Crenshaw - The Sporting Tribune
SDSU forward Bailey Barnhard (20) shoots the ball during an NCAA Women’s Basketball game against UNLV Wednesday February 18, 2026 in San Diego, California.
The Scarlet and Black built their biggest lead of the first half as Panganiban drew an and-one and then Barnhard got loose for a transition layup, but the Lady Rebels put together a 15-3 run over a 5:32 stretch almost entirely on the back of Alexander. After Mariah Elohim knocked down a triple, Alexander scored the next 12 UNLV points, making four straight from the field including a 3 and an and-one.
Trailing by 6 points with less than two minutes before halftime, Panganiban knocked down a long ball from the right wing, and after allowing a layup a quick-up enabled Martinez to rain it from beyond the arc on the left wing.
"Nat's my dawg, and whenever I see her see her getting hype it just makes me want to turn on another gear, so when she's hitting her shots and hyping us up as a team, her leadership is great," Panganiban said.
It was part of an 11-2 push by SDSU to close the half, with Hamilton scoring in transition, then the Aztecs taking advantage of an Alexander foul to run a side-out play with 3.7 seconds left. Barnhard took the in-bounds and found a looping Panganiban, who scooped for a layup and drew an and-one for her 13th point of the opening half and a 38-35 lead at the break.
After being challenged to show up for the game by Terry-Hutson last week, The Show turned up in a big way, with the largest attendance by students in at least the last nine seasons.
"It was electric in there, and we've had some great crowds when we have our education days, but this was really, really fun to see the community and our students engaged, and I hope gave them a good show so I hope we gave them something they'll come back and watch," Terry-Hutson said, in addition to shouting out several other SDSU coaches that had their teams attend the game.
The Aztecs became the first team to sweep the Lady Rebels in a regular season series since head coach Lindy Larocque took over in the 2020-21 season, and have won four of the last five meetings against UNLV.
SDSU continues their two-game homestand by hosting the Fresno State Bulldogs on Saturday, Feb. 21. The Aztecs opened the Mountain West Conference season with a 63-53 win on Dec. 17, 2025 at Save Mart Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Viejas Arena and the game will be streamed live on the Mountain West Network.
This story was updated at 9:37 p.m.