San Diego State coach has full-circle moment vs. Kim Mulkey, LSU in Women's March Madness

BATON ROUGE, La — A series of coincidences surrounds San Diego State’s first appearance in the women’s NCAA Tournament in 13 years.

For starters, the Aztecs have faced Saturday night's opponent, LSU, only once before: In 2012 when the Tigers defeated SDSU 64-56 in the first round of March Madness.

Even stranger, SDSU coach Stacie Terry-Hutson was on the opposing bench during that game, as an assistant coach for LSU.

A year later, Terry-Hutson left LSU to start her first collegiate head coaching job at SDSU. She has remained in the position for the last 12 years.

“I’m a little torn because I have a lot of love for LSU,” said Terry-Hutson when talking about what it means to be back. “I’ve been really proud to watch what Coach (Kim) Mulkey has done with this program.”

Watch LSU vs. San Diego State on Fubo

Terry-Hutson described the coincidence as being serendipitous. Nevertheless, she stressed that this moment wasn’t about her.

“It’s a great story, but it’s really about these young women,” she said.

SDSU punched its ticket to March Madness in dramatic fashion, defeating Wyoming in triple overtime in the Mountain West title game. But SDSU lacks experience on this stage, with only one person on its roster having ever played in the tournament.

The Aztecs expect a loud and raucous atmosphere Saturday night in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

“We know it's deafening,” Terry-Hutson said. “When they go on a run, it’s really hard to hear.”

Tourney time ⏰ pic.twitter.com/PykLfS0rpE
— San Diego State Women's Basketball (@Aztec_WBB) March 22, 2025

To prepare for this environment, SDSU played loud music and artificial crowd noise in the gym during practice. The team has even gone as far as learning hand signals for in-game communication, something they haven’t done all season.

“If we can stay connected in that environment, no matter who’s on the floor, we’ll have a good chance,” Terry-Huston said.

Tatum Esparza is a student in the University of Georgia's Sports Media Certificate program.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: LSU basketball vs SDSU in Women's March Madness: Coaching connections

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San Diego State coach has full-circle moment vs. Kim Mulkey, LSU in Women's March Madness

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