FINAL: San Diego State 74, Boise State 59

SAN DIEGO — Mountain West play opens for the San Diego State women’s basketball team with another top of the conference opponent as they welcome the Boise State Broncos to Viejas Arena on Sunday afternoon.

The Aztecs (11-2) have the best record in the circuit entering conference play and is one of three teams ranked in the top 100 of the NET (UNLV 51, SDSU 89, Colorado State 93) thanks to an incredibly balanced attack and top defense. The Scarlet and Black lead the Mountain West by allowing an average of 57.9 points against per game while ranking third with 72.6 points per game.

Naomi Panganiban earned her second straight Mountain West Freshman of the Week honor after averaging 21.0 points in the Aztecs split against Stephen F. Austin and Hawaii in the San Diego Classic. She has been hotter than an air fryer coming off the bench of late, averaging 21.5 points over her last four games and is the first player in conference history to average more than 20 points over a four-game stretch while not starting. SDSU’s four player freshman class has claimed four of the seven Freshman of the Week awards thus far, with Nat Martinez earning it the weeks of Nov. 25 and Dec. 2 — Martinez averaged 12.0 points per game at the San Diego Classic, including a team-high 21 points in the double-overtime loss to the Lumberjacks where she made five 3's including a last-second, game-tying triple in the fourth quarter.

Boise State (10-3) will be playing their first true road game of the season, having played in six neutral site games thus far and gone 3-3 away from ExtraMile Arena. Their losses have been to then-No. 12 West Virginia, Butler, and most recently North Dakota State in the final game of the Husky Classic in Seattle.

The Broncos rank second in the Mountain West averaging 72.8 points per game thanks to sharing the ball for a league-best 15.77 assists per game as well as their shooting, ranking second-best in field goal percentage (44.3%) and third-best for 3-point percentage (34.8%). While ranking fifth in points allowed per game at 59.7, they lead the conference with 6.00 blocks per game and are right near the Aztecs by holding opponents to the fourth-lowest field goal percentage and third-lowest 3-point percentage.

Junior guard Natalie Pasco leads Boise State with an average of 12.0 points while shooting 45.5% from downtown. Fellow junior guard Tatum Thompson is the only other player averaging in double-digits at 10.6 points and the program’s all-time block leader, 6-foot-3 graduate forward Abby Muse, has been putting up 6.6 rebounds and 2.5 swats per game while averaging 6.4 points — she is 16 rebounds shy of the Broncos all-time rebound record. Graduate guard Mary Kay Naro orchestrates the offense, averaging 3.7 assists per game while the team has had 20-plus assists in three of its last four games.

SDSU took the season series against the Broncos last year, losing 68-59 in Boise before notching a 79-54 win at home and a 72-69 win in the Mountain West Tournament semifinals. The all-time series is deadlocked 14-14, with the Aztecs winning the last three meetings at Viejas Arena.