The San Diego State women’s basketball team’s fast start in 2024 and program leap engineered over recent seasons can be measured in wins and … ice cream.

Aztecs coach Stacie Terry-Hutson rewards road wins with the frosty treat. The trips were rare most seasons, before the program pivoted to new ways of doing things.

Now?

“I need to get a deal with Handel’s (ice cream shop on campus),” Terry-Hutson said of her team, which has collected four while no other Mountain West team can claim more than one. “Some type of NIL deal or something.”

The Aztecs have won their first four away from Viejas Arena for the first time since 2009-10. An 8-0 start, now 10-1, is the best since the 1988-89 season.

After posting back-to-back 20-win seasons, San Diego State will keep chipping away at another Thursday when it plays Stephen F. Austin in an opening-round game of the San Diego Classic at Viejas Arena.

The turnaround after sub-.500 records in Terry-Hutson’s first nine seasons was fueled by a more experienced staff, an uptick in recruiting, five players who stuck it out for their eligibility and a defensive emphasis patterned after the men’s program.

More than anything, it required a level of patience that is rare in modern Division I sports.

“I work for a man (athletic director J.D. Wicker) who understood what we were trying to do,” Terry-Hutson said. “He valued a lot of the other things that don’t show up in the win-loss column. I think that’s allowed me to stay when we weren’t as successful on the court.

“We were graduating kids at a high level. We were making sure they did what they needed to do in every other aspect. And he saw what could be.

“So I’m very grateful, trust me, very grateful I was allowed the time to figure it out.”

Some of it also might have been a dash of apprehension and push to get it right after a rocky separation from former coach Beth Burns, who was awarded more than $5.5 million to settle a wrongful termination lawsuit.

Some of it might have been less panic among sports that traditionally are not revenue-generating.

No matter the cocktail of reasons, Terry-Hutson has made the most of it.

The Aztecs reached the Mountain West championship game a season ago. The 73.6 points per game this season is on pace for the most since 1992. The points-allowed clip of 55.6 is the fewest since 1997.

“Oh, wow,” Terry-Hutson said. “I didn’t know that.”

The coach just knows they’re winning.

The team’s strength of schedule, 221st in the country according to Massey Ratings, falls short of wow-worthy, but San Diego State has macheted through almost everything in front of it.

The sole loss came on a missed, wide-open layup against Providence in a 55-54 finish during a tournament in Cancun.

“You need those types of experiences to grow,” Terry-Hutson said. “We weren’t going to go undefeated all season, so it was a little bit of a wake-up call for us to go back to the lab. OK, we got it out of the way.

“We’ve just got to focus on continuing to win and start a new streak.”

The next chapter offers the Aztecs a chance to fatten their postseason resume for a program that last reached the NCAA Tournament in 2012.

San Diego State, which owns one top-100 win, faces an 8-2 Stephen F. Austin team with a NET ranking of 48. The NET metric is a key tool for determining at-large bids for the tournament.

Stopping the Ladyjacks would give the Aztecs their first Quad 2 victory, another postseason building block.

“In the five years I’ve been here, it doesn’t compare to where we started,” said Kim Villalobos, a fifth-year senior forward. “It’s not just one year that the culture shifted. It’s hard for that to happen in one year.”

Terry-Hutson deepened the coaching staff, including the additions of former Florida Atlantic head coach Kellie Lewis and Gregg Gottlieb, a one-time assistant under legendary Aztec men’s coach Steve Fisher.

Justin Hutson, her husband and former Fresno State men’s head coach, also was brought in.

Player recruitment spiked and Villalobos, Adryana Quezada, Meghan Fiso, Jazlen Green and transfer Cali Clark played into their fifth or sixth seasons.

Most of all, Terry-Hutson had the time to re-evaluate things.

Change things.

“I think it’s a testament to how this university does things,” Justin Hutson said. “She’s had success. It just didn’t always translate on the court. They gave her a little while to figure it out. She brings a lot to the table. She brings a lot of positive qualities to being a leader on campus, who she brings on campus.

“I think the administration understood and saw that and became a little bit more patient. It’s paid off.”

The biggest shift was emphasizing the defensive end of the court, weaving it into daily discussions and evaluations.

“We’re just playing harder and they’re being held accountable,” Terry-Hutson said. “If you don’t defend, you’re not going to play. I had a really great teacher in front of me in (former men’s coach)Steve Fisher. That’s how they won games. My husband was on those staffs, too, where defense matters.

“The offense has been whipped cream and cherries on top. That’s just the people that we recruit. We have really good scorers and kids who can shoot the ball.

“The defense is going to be the staple. That’s been the key for us.”

The message has been delivered.

“… Defense is how we’re winning right now,” Villalobos said.

The coach also pointed to the pickup of Clark, who shuffled in from Colorado State. Clark saw a video of three transfers on the postgame podium last season after the Aztecs lost to UNLV in the Mountain West title game.

They talked about how much Terry-Hutson and the revamped culture at San Diego State impacted them.

Clark was hooked.

“That was huge,” the coach said. “We have a post player who is holding it down for us. She’s cleaning up the glass. Guards the ‘5’ position. We have an anchor now.”

It might be wise to set aside more ice cream money.