The Pima Community College men’s basketball team has opened the season 16-0 overall, 6-0 in the ACCAC, following Wednesday night’s 95-65 rout of Mesa at the West Campus Aztec Gymnasium.
The No. 7 Aztecs led the game against the Thunderbirds (8-5, 2-3).
The eighth-ranked Pima women got a triple-double from Melicia Nelson but lost 71-60 against visiting Mesa after being outscored 26-11 in the second quarter. Nelson had 11 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists.
In the men’s game, the Aztecs went on a 13-0 run led by sophomore Mason Hunt scoring eight straight points to make it 71-41. They took their biggest lead at 77-45 with 9:51 left after sophomore Isaac Johnson hit a pair of free throws.
The Aztecs took their first double-digit lead at 23-12 with 13:27 left in the first half.
Mesa rallied to cut the lead to 30-26 but the Aztecs used a 9-0 run to take back the double-digit advantage. Pima led 48-33 at halftime and outscored the Thunderbirds 47-32 in the second half.
Hunt and freshman Isaiah Hill (Premier Prep Academy and formerly of Pueblo) combined for 43 points.
Hunt scored a game-high 23 points, going 9 for 19 from the field. Hill was 7-for-11 shooting and 4 for 6 from beyond the arc, finishing with 20 points to go with two rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Johnson scored 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting with four rebounds and six assists while freshman Rowan McKenzie also added 14 points and nine rebounds off the bench. He went 4 for 7 from 3-point range.
Sophomore Brock Mendoza fell short of his fifth straight double-double as he had 10 points and nine rebounds. He went 5 for 7 from the field and finished with four blocks.
The Aztecs shot 52.1% (38 for 73) from the field and 35.5% (11 for 31) from beyond the arc. They will be back at the West Campus Aztec Gymnasium on Saturday when they play against Community Christian College at 12 p.m.
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The Pima women’s team (12-4, 4-2 in ACCAC) renewed its rivalry with Mesa (11-3, 5-0) on Wednesday as the teams played for the first time in the 2025-26 season.
The Aztecs suffered their first loss at home this season and are now 7-1.
They led 19-18 after the first quarter but Mesa took the lead at 24-22 halfway through the second.
The Thunderbirds went on an 11-0 run in three minutes as Pima trailed 35-24 with 2:25 left before halftime. The Aztecs fell behind 44-30 at the break.
Pima cut the lead to 51-42 in the third quarter, but Mesa scored seven straight points to push the lead to 58-42.
Sophomore Kiley Sours-Miller hit a jumper and Nelson made a pair of free throws to make it 65-58 with 50 seconds left.
The Aztecs could not close the gap any further.
Freshman Reigne Waugh finished with a team-high 13 points, and she added two rebounds and two steals.
Sours-Miller fell short of a double-double with 12 points on 6-for-10 shooting from the field and nine rebounds.
Freshman Lucy Fisher contributed with eight points and 12 rebounds.
The Aztecs shot 39.3% (24 for 61) and 16.7% (2 for 12) from beyond the arc whereas the Thunderbirds were 41.2% (7 for 17) from 3-point range and were 87% (20 for 23) from the foul line.
Pima will next host a non-conference game against Arizona Christian University JV. Tipoff is at 6 p.m.
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