WBB | Gaels Complete Thanksgiving Classic With Win Over WKU

Saturday, November 30

Moraga, Calif.

2:00 P.M.

Saint Mary's College of California

3-4,0-0WCC

Western Kentucky

-52,00 CUSA

OT 1

Western Ky.

Saint Mary's (CA)

Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner

WBB | Gaels Complete Thanksgiving Classic With Win Over WKU

11/30/2019 4:46:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

MORAGA, Calif. – Saint Mary's fought hard and recorded a 7-point victory in overtime over Western Kentucky on Saturday to snap the Hilltoppers' five-game winning streak and improve their record to 3-4 in the last contest of the Saint Mary's Thanksgiving Classic presented by Walnut Creek Convention and Visitors Bureau.

HOW IT HAPPENED

QUARTER 1 | Saint Mary's scored the first points of the contest after Claire Ferguson landed a solid layup for her first points of the game. SMC held Western Kentucky from scoring for the first two minutes of action before the Hilltoppers scored a layup of their own. Sam Simons immediately responded with a three-pointer to improve the Gaels' lead. The middle of the quarter remained highly defensive has neither team put up a point until Tyra Moe added two to the board to tie the game 7-7. Western Kentucky went on to take the lead by four before Moe drilled another layup to cut the Gaels' deficit by two. With just over two minutes left of play, Taycee Wedin sunk her first trey of the contest to steal the lead from the Hilltoppers. Katie Rathbun quickly responded with a trey of her own after entering the game just a minute earlier. Both teams would continue to exchange buckets until the buzzer with Saint Mary's atop Western Kentucky 15-14.
QUARTER 2 | Simons drilled back-to-back three-pointers to get the second quarter started for the Gaels and improved their lead by five points. Simons continued to shine from beyond the arc as she sunk two additional treys to begin an 11-0 run for SMC, which was good for their largest lead of the contest. Halfway through the period, Ferguson added a layup of her own to improve the Gaels' lead by 10 points. Western Kentucky would go on to put up a couple of points before Wedin and Ferguson combined for five points to keep Saint Mary's well in the lead. After a pair of buckets from the Hilltoppers, Ferguson recorded a solid jumper followed by a three-pointer from Rathbun in the final minute of the period to end the quarter with a 39-27 lead.
QUARTER 3 | Emily Codding got the second half of action started for SMC as she put up her first points of the contest with a layup. Holland responded to a Hilltoppers' three-pointer with a jumper before Brianna Simonich would sink a layup to put the Gaels up by 14. Saint Mary's kept the momentum as Wedin chipped in two more points but Western Kentucky managed to add points from the charity stripe to cut their deficit. SMC then held WKU from scoring for over four minutes of action and Wedin carried the Gaels' lead after nailing another layup. In the final minutes of the quarter, Rathbun drained her third three-pointer of the contest to improve her shooting to 3-for-4 from both the field and from beyond the arc. Despite a bucket from the Hilltoppers, Holland landed back-to-back layups to end the period with a 12-point lead over Western Kentucky.
QUARTER 4 | Western Kentucky pulled within five points of Saint Mary's however the Gaels continued to remain in the lead as Simonich drilled her second layup of the contest. Codding would go on to post an additional layup of her own before Simons sunk back-to-back treys to secure a new career-high in three-pointers (eight). After a couple of minutes of neither team putting up a point, WKU was able to add buckets to the board to tie the game 67-67. With the clock winding down in the final minutes of the frame, both teams remained highly defensive to force the contest to go into overtime.
OVERTIME 1 | Saint Mary's immediately pulled into the lead in overtime as both Simons and Wedin nailed three-pointers to put the Gaels up by six. Western Kentucky managed to record free-throws to cut their deficit to three before Wedin drilled another trey to carry SMC's lead. Following back-to-back fouls on the Hilltoppers, Saint Mary's would add multiple free points to the board which would be enough to secure the 80-73 victory.

NUMBERS TO KNOW

7, 24: Career-high in three-pointers and season-high in points for Simons.
10: Double-double (10 points, 10 assists) and tied career-high in assists for Holland.
16: The Gael's biggest lead against the Hilltoppers, whose largest lead was four points.
37:52: Amount of time SMC held the lead over Western Kentucky.

QUOTABLE

"It was an exciting game," said head coach Paul Thomas. "Although I am disappointed that we let WKU get back in it, I am extremely happy and proud of our team for reacting and responding the way that they did in overtime. I am very pleased with how we are shooting the ball right now."

COMING UP

The Gaels will host Cal Poly on Dec. 7 at 2:00 p.m.

#GaelsRise – For ticket information to all home basketball games, call the SMC Ticket Office today at 925-631-4689 or click the ticket link here to purchase your seats now.