Yesterday San Diego State beat Wyoming 72-68 in triple-OT in the MWC women’s tourney title game to earn an automatic bid to next week’s NCAA tournament. The Aztecs have now won 22+ games for the 3rd year in a row, and will be making their 1st trip to the NCAA tourney in 13 years. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with San Diego State FR G Nat Martinez about being a great 3-PT shooter and making the NCAA tourney.
You are from San Leandro, CA: what made you choose San Diego State? 1 of my high school teammates (Trinity Zamora) plays here: she tore her ACL and had to redshirt but it was still great to have a friend here who I already knew. Everyone here is so nice/welcoming and it is both far enough from/close enough to home.
Despite her injury, how fun has it been to reunite with Trinity in college? It is so fun! We did not win a state title during high school, but last night after we won we looked at each other because we had finally won a ring.
You scored almost 2300 PTS in high school including 1 game with 52 PTS: what is the secret to being a great scorer? Just bring creative. You must find ways to get open, learn how to shoot off of 1 foot or both feet, and have a scoring mentality.
You play for Coach Stacie Terry-Hutson: what makes her such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from her so far? Having a coach who believes in you is truly impactful to everyone on the team. If you are a shooter this is an environment you want to be in because we push the ball up the court and then find whoever is open.
You were named MWC Freshman of the Week once each in November/December/January: how were you able to come in and contribute right from the start? Every freshman has a rough start, but learning from the veterans helped a lot, as does playing for a team that sets you up for success.
Last January in a win at Utah State you became the 1st Aztec in the MWC era to have a game with 6+ 3PM/9+ REB/7+ AST: how are you able to balance all your different skill sets? After I hit my 1st couple of threes I just wanted to get everyone else involved. Our center focused on boxing out the opposing center so I was able to swoop in and get some rebounds: it was a total team effort.
Earlier this month you were named to the conference All-Freshman Team: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? It meant a lot and reminded me that my hard work is paying off at the D-1 level. You dream about such things as a kid and I hope to improve even more next season.
You shot 42.2 3P% this season: what is the key to making shots from behind the arc? Practice, practice, practice! In high school I would wake up at 5AM to get some reps in, and in college I practice sliding/drifting/running into threes. You need to focus on all the little things.
Yesterday in the MWC tourney title game you scored 6 PTS in a 4-PT 3-OT win over Wyoming (the 1st D-1 conference final to last at least 3 overtimes since the 2013 SWAC Final lasted 4 overtimes): where does that rank among your career highlights so far, and how exhausted were you by the end of the night? I felt like I could have played better but both teams were exhausted: it felt like we had played 2 full games! We fought through the fatigue, which was 1 of the main reasons that we won.
What kind of seed do you think you deserve, and what kind of seed do you think you will get? I have not looked at any predictions, but we beat some good teams this season including UNLV/Wisconsin so that should really help us. We just need to stay focused and treat our next opponent like any other team.
