Courtesy of Braidon Nourse

LAS VEGAS – No. 4 San Diego State is back in the Credit Union 1 Mountain West Women’s Basketball Championship title game. Pretty fitting it had to beat No. 1 UNLV, who it lost to in that game last year, to get there.

A pair of massive runs — one to finish the second half and another to start the second half — springboarded the Aztecs to a huge upset over the Lady Rebels, who were gunning for a fourth straight MW title.

“I have a confident group behind me. We practice well. We were prepared,” Aztecs coach Stacie Terry-Hutson said. “I thought our coaching staff did a great job preparing them, but I have a very confident group, and our competitive spirit is very high.

“We feel like we’re a good team. We know UNLV is very good and they deserve all the respect, but we’re a good team, too. I thought we were trying to show everybody that we were.”

The Aztecs were led by Veronica Sheffey with 15 points to go with four rebounds and three assists. Adryana Quezada, Naomi Ponganiban, Kim Villalobos and Jazlen Green each added double digits, with 10, 14, 11 and 10, respectively.

UNLV led 10-9 at the end of the first quarter but San Diego State finished the second quarter on a 15-3 run over the last 5:53 of the frame. Villalobos toughed out a bloody finger — and a bloody nose later in the game — then came back in for the second quarter. Her first action, which sparked the run, was a pair of buckets with a towering rebound in between.

“It was a physical game,” Terry-Huston said. “But she’s just tough, I mean, that’s who she is. She’s a competitor, she does a lot of things for us. We ask her to do a lot and (those plays) just showed she’s tough. She’s so tough.”

Quezada, San Diego State’s other bona fide star, kickstarted the Aztecs’ run in the third with a 3 from the wing; a steal and assist the other way to Sheffey; and a block to initiate another transition bucket.

All in a row. All in 39 seconds. A 7-0 run to push the lead to 17. UNLV never came within seven.

“I know where she wants to get (the ball): she loves that shot on the elbow. People keep giving it to her and I’m not sure why,” Terry-Hutson said. “She’s worked really hard on her game, but we know she can score at all three levels. She hit a big layup, too, at the end when we needed a bucket.”

The seven-point margin came late in the game and made for a nervy finish at the Thomas & Mack Center, though. For a moment, the Aztecs’ shooting went stale and UNLV found timely buckets from all over the floor.

Toward the end of the third quarter, San Diego State led by as many as 20. But as Terry-Hutson will tell you, her team’s superpower is its ability to spread the ball and get a performance from much deeper on the bench than others.

There is no true all-conference caliber player, but that just plays to the benefit of the Aztecs, especially against a team like UNLV.

In the final minutes, clutch lead-extending free throws from Green and Cali Clark, along with timely buckets from Panganiban and Sheffey, ultimately sealed the deal.

“Just keeping the same mindset. We knew they’d come out more aggressive in the second half, so just being prepared for that,” Sheffey said. “So just staying poised and trusting our preparation for the game, knowing we’re all on the same page and finishing off strong.”

The Aztecs will face the winner of No. 2 Wyoming and No. 7 Fresno State in the championship game on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. PT. That game will air live on CBS Sports Network.

–mw–