The Aztecs (10-1) battled Cal State Fullerton (0-10) for 40 minutes, but SDSU was able to pull out the win on the road Thursday night at Titan Gym.

SDSU was slow from the start and led the Titans by single digits at the end of the first quarter and first half. The Aztecs’ defense was their saving grace in the first half, holding Cal State Fullerton to 33 points. SDSU forced seven turnovers in the first half, including five steals.

Aztecs head coach Stacie Terry-Hutson had her team pushing all over the court for most of the game, but especially in the first half, resulting in the Titans losing the ball a total of 14 times. Four SDSU players contributed to the team’s eight steals: Cali Clark (3), Erin Houpt (2), Kaelyn Hamilton (2) and Adryana Quezada (1).

The Aztecs crowded Cal State Fullerton around the basket. The Titans shot a measly 37.7% from the field and an even lower 18.2% from distance. Even when SDSU failed to score between 4:20 and 0:26 to play, their consistent defense kept Fullerton scoreless between 3:56 and 0:44.

When the defense failed, SDSU’s offense almost always got a basket to keep them in the lead. Eleven first-half points from leading scorer Quezada were enough to stop the Titans early. Freshman star Naomi Panganiban shot 60% from the field and scored Quezada’s most points in the game with 17.

For most of the game, the Aztecs relied on Quezada and Panganiban as scorers as they led the team in shots attempted and made (8/15 and 6/10, respectively). Despite coming off the bench, they also led SDSU in minutes played (30).

SDSU couldn’t pull away from the Titans despite being double-digit favorites going into the start. The unexpectedly close game didn’t faze the freshman Panganiban as she hit a three-pointer at the end of the third quarter to keep the Aztecs in the lead.

With Panganiban’s buzzer-beater, the Aztecs led at the end of each period, although the contest was hotly contested throughout.

Other contributors for SDSU included junior starting guard Erin Houpt (12 points) and senior starting forward Cali Clark (6 points, 9 rebounds).

With their tenth win of the season, the Aztecs remain atop the Mountain West in both record (10-1) and percentage (90.9%). They also remain unbeaten away from home; Winning away games is always a positive, especially when the Aztecs want to win a conference title.

Next up for SDSU is a home game at Viejas Arena against the Stephen F. Austin Ladyjacks on December 20th at 3:30 p.m.