MORAGA, Calif. - Saint Mary's opened their season on Friday with a thrilling match against Wyoming, winning the contest 90-84 with a late push in the final minutes.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• QUARTER 1 | The Gaels started off neck-and-neck with the Wyoming Cowgirls on Friday night. Saint Mary's traded shots back and forth with their opponent, and went into the second period with a score of 18-18. The team shot 73 percent in the first and was led by senior Megan McKay who scored 5 points with 2 rebounds.

 

• QUARTER 2 | Saint Mary's got the second quarter off to a quick start as they went on a 6-2 run shortly after the break. The Cowgirls tried to regain the lead, but the Gaels continued to roll and at one point held a 9-point advantage over Wyoming. Sydney Raggio was a huge part of the scoring as she was responsible for 11 points in the second. Saint Mary's carried their lead into the half with a four-point advantage over the Cowgirls (45-41).

 

• QUARTER 3 | The third period was highly physical, as five total fouls were recorded in just the first three minutes. The Cowgirls went on a short run in the middle of the quarter and tied the game at 53-53, and the two teams traded shots back and forth after that. The third quarter ended with Saint Mary's and Wyoming tied 68-68.

 

• QUARTER 4 | Wyoming gained back the momentum to begin the final period, as they started with an 8-0 run. The Gaels fought to keep the match close and pulled the score back to 79-76 with just under six minutes left. Saint Mary's then answered with a 7-0 run of their own shortly after and took the lead 83-82 with three minutes on the clock. The Gaels kept control in the final moments and took the win 90-84.

QUOTABLE
"Well first I would say that you know I've known coach Legerski for a long time, he's been there a number of years and his team always play hard," said head coach Paul Thomas. "They have a great understanding of what they need and want. There was a couple of mental lapses tonight, other than a few close outs, we played with a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of intensity, but we didn't close out the way we should have. You win because of players making plays, and we had a lot of players make plays tonight. You can point to a lot of things, all those momentum makers really helped. I didn't feel uncomfortable at any point because we are a team of runs this season and I like where we are at condition wise. I will say that we're just super proud of Taycee Wedin and Sam Simons. Taycee can flat out shoot and opponents are going to have to go out and guard her. That's what Taycee does, we have great floor spacing and so her three assists were pretty good. This was Sam's first college game, but, if you looked at her during the game, she sure didn't look like a freshman. She was calm and composed which was really good to see."

NUMBERS TO KNOW

• 24: # of points scored by Raggio
• 68: Saint Mary's field goal percentage
• 34: Points off the bench for SMC
• 23: # of points scored by freshman

COMING UP

• Saint Mary's will hit the road following Friday's match and play Washington State on Sunday at 1 p.m.