LAS VEGAS — For one of the few times this season, the San Diego State women’s basketball team looked like a team with no returning seniors and just four regular players with three or more years of experience — young.
It came at the worst possible moment, as the top-seeded Aztecs fell to the veteran ninth-seeded Air Force Falcons, 83-76, on Sunday afternoon at the Thomas & Mack Center, ending their Mountain West tournament early.
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Naomi Panganiban led all SDSU scorers with 29 points, but the Redblacks struggled over 3:36 of the fourth quarter, during which Milahnie Perry and the Falcons turned a three-point deficit into a 63-58 lead that they held the rest of the way.
It was the first time the Mountain West had upset a No. 1 seed in the quarterfinals since San Jose State beat Colorado State in 2015, and the fourth time a top seed had lost its first tournament game.
Air Force’s senior combination helped the team at critical moments, Perry scored a career-high 33 points, and Emily Adams made 10 of 11 free throws, scored 20 points and grabbed 8 rebounds. Air Force outscored SDSU 33-22 in the game and outscored the Aztecs 20-9 in the second half and outscored the Aztecs 57-44.
The game turned around when the Falcons pressured the Aztecs after Alexis Cortez scored on a Perry stepback error, and the Aztecs committed one of their nine turnovers of the game. Defensive Player of the Year Jayda McNabb stole an inbounds pass from Bailey Barnhard and was fouled, giving Air Force an 8-0 run to take a lead they would never relinquish.
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Panganiban scored 20 points in the second half and hit three consecutive 3-pointers to make it 79-76 with 17 seconds left, but the Falcons made free throws in the final seconds. Air Force made 27 of 31 free throws in this game, while the Aztecs made 11 of 16 free throws and 9 of 13 free throws in the second half.
After halftime, the Air Force seemed unable to miss a shot, overturning a six-point deficit with 8-for-11 shooting in the quarter. Alexis Cortez, Perry and Keeley O’Holalen all hit 3-pointers as the Falcons twice put SDSU in the 5-point hole.
But each time SDSU tied the game on a personal drive, first with a 2-pointer from Hamilton on a breakaway and then with a jumper. Then in the final 94 seconds of the third quarter, Panganiban hit two free throws before draining her second 3-pointer of the game.
The two teams exchanged the lead five times in the final minute, and after Adams made two free throws, the Falcons led 55-54 after three points.
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SDSU scored its first four points of the half by taking advantage of the open paths to the rim left by the Air Force defense and driving straight to the rim. Nora Williams scored the first two goals of the game, the second on a fast break after a steal from Natalia Martinez.
Perry made her first three shots of the game for Air Force, setting up a pull-up elbow and a mid-post jumper early. Defensive duties were shared between Williams and Kaylin Hamilton, but the all-conference senior mixed up her moves, scoring eight of her 12 first-half points in the opening 10 minutes.
Although the Redblacks led throughout the first quarter, they didn’t attempt a three-pointer until just over two minutes left. It wasn’t until nearly three minutes into the second quarter that Kennedy Lee’s long pass prevented the Falcons from starting a 6-0 spurt, and the Air Force took the lead for the first time.
The lead changed hands five times in the second quarter, with three tied, but Perry’s layup gave Air Force a 24-21 lead with 4:48 left in the half, and the Aztecs didn’t allow a field goal the rest of the way.
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SDSU scored 11 of the quarter’s final 13 points thanks to passes in the paint from Lee and Maria Constantinidu. The Aztecs eventually took a 7-0 lead when Panganiban took advantage of a defensive transition opportunity with forward Emily Adams marking her, and the guard dribbled past her before stepping back for a 3-pointer.
The six-point advantage at halftime mirrored that of the regular-season finale, and SDSU’s transition layup in the final seconds once again ended the game – this time instead of a Hamilton breakaway, Panganiban closed the score at 32-26.
San Diego State will await their postseason future, as the program’s seventh Mountain West regular-season title and 67th NET ranking heading into the Mountain West Tournament should be attractive for the non-NCAA postseason.
This story will be updated.