PORTLAND, Ore. –  An all-around team effort highlighted the Gaels' comeback victory in Portland on Saturday as five Saint Mary's players found themselves with double-digit point totals.

HOW IT HAPPENED
 

• QUARTER 1 | In her first career start, freshman Sam Simons got the scoring going for the Gaels as her layup gave SMC a 2-0 lead. The Gaels were perfect in their first six field goal attempts, scoring 14 points including a pair of 3-pointers from sophomore Madeline Holland. However, five early turnovers led to six more attempts for Portland who led 17-14 with 4:06 to play. SMC pulled within one point (21-10) at the 1:41 mark thanks to a triple from freshman Taycee Wedin. In each of their next possessions, both sides traded a 3-pointer with Wedin adding another to her total. Portland made a layup with 15 seconds remaining, but Simons responded with a jumper at the 3-second mark to pull the Gaels back within one to end the first quarter 26-25.  

 

• QUARTER 2 | The Pilots stretched their lead back to five points after two minutes of play in the second, outscoring SMC 8-4 to open the period. 49 seconds later, Portland took their biggest lead to that point, a 7-point advantage (36-29) after scoring a layup with 7:16 to play. After the Pilots went up by eight, senior Carly Turner cut the deficit to six once again with a pair of free throws following a shooting foul. In their next possession, Simons brought the team to within four points with a layup. However, after falling back into an 8-point hole, the Gaels went on an 11-2 run which gave them their first lead of the quarter (41-40) with 1:15 to go. Both sides traded treys in the final minute, but Saint Mary's preserved their 1-point lead heading into the half, leading 44-43.

 

• QUARTER 3 | Senior Sydney Raggio made a pair of layups to open the third quarter to give the Gaels a 5-point, 48-43 lead. Despite the Pilots responding with a layup of their own, senior Megan McKay made two free throws to keep their advantage at five. However, a 5-point run by Portland knotted the contest up at 50 points apiece. Nevertheless, Holland responded in SMC's next possession with her third 3-pointer of the game to give Saint Mary's back the lead. Then, Simons put up a three of her own to give the Gaels a 6-point advantage. The Gaels scored 3-pointers in two more consecutive possessions to take a 7-point lead (their biggest to that point in the game) with 4:42 on the clock. With 1:28 to play in the quarter, the Pilots whittled their way down to a 1-point deficit, but after being fouled, McKay made two layups to push their lead back to three. 31 seconds later, McKay received another opportunity behind the charity stripe and she hit both attempts. After a pair of UP free throws, Wedin scored the final basket of the quarter with four seconds left to preserve SMC's 5-point lead (71-66).  

 

• QUARTER 4 | After a back-and-forth two and a half minutes, the Gaels took an 8-point lead when Raggio charged into the paint for a layup. With just over six minutes to play, Saint Mary's continued to roll as junior Jasmine Forcadilla's layup gave SMC a 6-point run and a 10-point, 83-73 lead. Their advantage stretched as high as 13 points on a pair of occasions, beginning with Wedin's third trey of the night to make it 86-73 with 5:21 remaining. Portland went on a 9-2 streak inside of five minutes to cut their deficit to six, but Holland's season-high, fourth 3-pointer returned SMC's lead to nine. The Pilots resorted to fouling in the final minute, but the Gaels held on for a 98-91 victory

 
NUMBERS TO KNOW
 

• 98: The most points SMC has scored since November 24, 2014 when they defeated Sacramento State 99-91
• 55.9: The Gaels' best shooting percentage in conference this season
• 43: SMC's total rebounds. They outrebounded Portland by 14
• 10: No. of Gaels who scored (every player who received minutes)
• 15: A career-high No. of points for Wedin

 
QUOTABLE
 
"This was a much-needed win for our program," said head coach Paul Thomas. "Portland is a much-improved team and we were coming off of a couple of difficult losses. I am proud of the team for the way they responded physically and mentally."
 
COMING UP
 
Saint Mary's returns home after six games on the road to face San Diego and BYU on January 10 and 12 respectively.