Feb. 19, 2004

Box Score

San Francisco, CA - The Saint Mary's women's basketball team snapped their two-game losing streak on Thursday night with a 74-66 victory over San Francisco at War Memorial Gym. The Gaels jumped out to an early first half lead by shooting 57 percent over the first 20 minutes and kept up the hot shooting in the second half to finish the game shooting 50 percent from the floor. With the win the Gaels improve to 14-11 on the season and 6-5 in West Coast Conference play and San Francisco fell to 9-15 and 2-9 in conference.

The win also places the Gaels into a fourth place tie with Portland in the conference standings. The win also gives Saint Mary's a regular season sweep of the Dons, and it marks the second time this season the Gaels scored 70-plus points against San Francisco.

In the game the Gaels were led offensively by Evynn Van Burger, who matched her career-high with 20 points off the bench. Serena Benavente added 16 points, including 14 in the second half, Monica Mertle added 11 points and Lauren Shaughnessy scored a career-high 10 points and added six rebounds and six assists.

To start the second half, the Gaels came out slow, as San Francisco scored five quick points to cut the Gaels' lead to 35-32 with 17:38 left in the game. Saint Mary's answered with a 3-pointer by Mertle to give them a 38-32 lead with 15:56 left on the clock.

The Gaels and Dons traded baskets over the next five minutes and Saint Mary's carried a 48-45 lead with 10:53 left in the game. Saint Mary's added to its lead after back-to-back 3-pointers by Van Burger and Benavente to give the Gaels a 54-45 lead with 9:26 on the clock.

Saint Mary's and San Francisco went back-and-forth for the next seven minutes, with the Gaels holding a 61-57 lead with 2:21 left in the game.

Saint Mary's fell behind 6-3 to start the game after the first two minutes of action, but the Gaels went on a 11-0 run to open up a 14-6 lead with 15:08 remaining in the first half after a Shaughnessy 3-pointer.

After a fast start for the Gaels, both teams slowed down over the next five minutes, scoring two points each to give Saint Mary's a 16-8 lead with 9:46 left in the half.

The Gaels closed out the first half with a 33-27 lead after the first 20 minutes of action. In the first half the Gaels were led offensively by Shaughnessy, who had eight points, Van Burger added seven points and Savannah Williams had five points. Saint Mary's shot 57 percent in the first half, while holding San Francisco to 38 percent shooting.

Saint Mary's returns to action on Saturday, February 21, when it hosts Santa Clara at 7:05 p.m. at McKeon Pavilion.