SAN DIEGO - The Aztecs kick off the season at No. 2/2 Stanford Monday evening at 7 p.m.
Aztec Tidbits
• It is the first time the Aztecs have faced a team ranked in the top two since Nov. 23, 2014, when they played at No. 2 South Carolina.
• SDSU went 15-16 last year, their most wins since the 2012-13.
• The Aztecs are receiving votes in the preseason USA Today Coaches poll.
• San Diego State was predicted to finish in fifth place in the preseason Mountain West poll, which tied for their highest under Head coach Stacie Terry-Hutson.
• SDSU returns three starters (Avinger, Ramos & Staples) seven letterwinners from a year ago. They are bringing back 74% of their scoring and 89% of their assist contributions.
• The Aztecs have six players in their fifth year of college and 10 of their 13 scholarship players are upperclassmen.
• The Aztecs had four players average double-digits points last year and return three of them in 2022-23 (Avinger, Ramos & Staples). That was just the second time in the Mountain West era (1999-present) that the Aztecs had four players averaging 10 or more points.
• Last year, SDSU set a school record by committing just 12.87 turnovers per game.
• SDSU has five newcomers. Transfers Sarah Barcello (Marist), Yummy Morris (TCU), Abby Prohaska (Notre Dame) and Adryana Quezada (Utah State) and freshman Jaida Brooks (PHH Prep). Quezada, an All-Mountain West selection last year, will redshirt the 2022-23 season.
• Other letterwinners returning in 2022-23 are guards Alex Crain and Meghan Fiso and forwards Khylee-Jade Pepe and Kim Villalobos.
• Guard Sophia Ramos (San Antonio, Texas) is returning for her fifth season. An All-Mountain West honorable mention selection last year, she is the only Aztec ever to have at least 1,500 points, 400 assists and 500 rebounds in a career. She enters the year in the top 10 in program history in nine statistical categories, including points (5th), made threes (5th), assists (6th), made free throws (6th) and three-point percentage (10th).
• Point guard Asia Avinger (Cerritos, Calif.) was named to the Mountain West All-Freshman Team after averaging 12.0 points and 3.9 points, which was tops among all MW freshmen.
• Avinger was one of four freshmen in the nation to average at least 11.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.
• SDSU has two active players in the top 10 all-time in career three-point percentage. Mercedes Staples is third at 38.6 percent (68-176), Isabela Hernandez is fifth (36.3%, 62-171) and Sophia Ramos is 10th (35.1%, 153-436).
• SDSU went 10-5 at home last year, their most home wins and best home winning percentage since the 2012-13 season.
Opponent Notebook (Stanford)
• The Cardinal are ranked No. 2 in both the preseason AP and Coaches poll and was the unanimous pick to win the Pac-12.
• Last year they went 32-4, including a 16-0 mark in the Pac-12. and advanced to their second consecutive Final Four where they lost to UConn.
• They won the national championship the year before.
• They return nine players, including All-Americans Cameron Brink and Haley Jones.
• Several Cardinal earned spots on national preseason watch lists, including Jones (Cheryl Miller Award), Lauren Betts (Lisa Leslie Award), Francesca Belibi (Lisa Leslie Award) and Brink (Katrina McClain Award.
• They beat Vanguard 102-25 in their exhibition.
• They went 16-1 at home last year.
• Head coach Tara VanDerveer holds the all-time record for career wins in women's college basketball and has a record of 1,157-259.
Series Notes
• The all-time series is tied 4-4
• This is just their second meeting in the last 32 years.
• They last played in the 2009 NCAA Tournament where Stanford won 77-49.
• They played seven times between 1983 and 1989 where SDSU went 4-3.
• SDSU is 2-1 all-time at Stanford.
Aztecs Open Season at No. 2 Stanford Monday
