MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary's women's basketball's Stella Beck was named Muscle Milk Student-Athlete of the Week for the week of Jan. 30-Feb. 5 after leading the Gaels to a comeback win over San Diego Saturday with a career-high 28 points.

Beck scored half (14) of her new career mark during a 33-8 Saint Mary's run that spanned the final minute of the third and almost all of the fourth quarter. Saturday was her first game back after missing the previous two. Beck had been slated to start the game but was removed from the starting lineup just minutes before tip-off after getting hit in the mouth during warm-ups and requiring treatment.

That didn't faze the junior from Wellington, New Zealand, who helped lead the charge in erasing a 12-point third quarter deficit and give the Gaels their sixth straight win and eighth in their last nine games. She scored nine straight points in the fourth quarter to break a 58-58 tie and give Saint Mary's a 67-58 lead with 5 minutes, 24 minutes left. Beck also had a team-high eight rebounds, two assists and a steal.

Stella Beck is an incredibly tough kid," said Saint Mary's head coach Paul Thomas. "Having her being out for the last couple games, and then in warm-ups gets hit, and then performing like that. I think the best thing that us as a coaching staff notice is she brought it on herself. She accepted that role and ran with it."

Saint Mary's next travels to the Pacific Northwest to begin a three-game road trip. The Gaels face Portland Thursday before taking on first-place Gonzaga on Saturday. The trip concludes in Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount on Feb. 16. All the games will be streamed live on the Gaels' Gameday Central page.

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