Game #1
Saint Mary's Gaels vs. Nevada Wolfpack
Tuesday, November 5, 2019 at 3:00 p.m.
Reno, Nev. — Lawlor Events Center
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MORAGA, Calif. – Seven months since their last game in the WNIT Tournament, Saint Mary's basketball will return to the court for their 2019 opener at Nevada on Tuesday.
 
The Gaels welcome back 10 players to their roster this season including sophomores Sam Simons and Taycee Wedin, as well as junior Madeline Holland. The trio played a combined total of 2,101 minutes last year, which included 776 points, 241 rebounds, and 60 steals. Redshirt-senior Claire Ferguson and junior Emily Codding will also take on a bigger roles this season in the forward and guard positions respectively. Ferguson clocked 471 minutes last season while scoring 119 points and recording 103 rebounds. Codding recorded a total of 797 minutes with 250 points as well as 118 rebounds.

"We've always had a really good team dynamic," said Codding. "The new girls that we have this year fit in really well and we are excited for the chance to all work together in the regular season. As someone who will have more of a leadership role this year, I'm just trying to stress being really supportive of each other because that's what the seniors before me have always taught."

Simons spent a portion of her summer playing for the Australian Gems in the FIBA U19 World Cup, where she led them to a second place finish. Simons played in five of Australia's seven contests, averaging 2.6 points and 1.6 rebounds with 11.7 minutes-played per game. One of her best games came in the Gems' first contest of the World Cup against the US where she saw 20 minutes of playing time, contributing four points and four rebounds. She later scored seven in the round of 16 against Colombia. 
 
"The experience of playing overseas was pretty awesome," said Simons. "Getting another opportunity to play in an international tournament was really special and I learned a lot from it. Being able to play against different types of basketball from around the world has allowed me to adjust to the others styles and is really helpful for me in season. Also, being able to share these stories with my teammates has been beneficial as well. My leadership role this year means a lot to me because I know we've had a lot of good leaders in the past. I want to lead by example and show the new girls that our high standard of play is something we want to set early on."
 
Saint Mary's is also adding a number of new faces to their roster this season: sophomore Jade Kirisome, sophomore Amy West, freshman Finau Tonga, and freshman Mia Grizelj. While Kirisome and West will sit out this season, Grizelj and Tonga will be eligible for competition. Grizelj graduated from St. Francis High School in 2019 where she averaged 8.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game as a junior, and was also an All-League Honorable Mention. Tonga graduated from Taylorsville High School in Utah and was named to the 6A All-State Second Team after her junior year. During that season, she averaged 14.3 points and 9.0 rebounds, and her single game season-high was 29 points.

"Mia is a local kid and I believe she will have many contributions to the program," said head coach Paul Thomas. "We are looking for her to do a little bit of everything this season, including scoring, rebounding, and also post defense. Finau is going to bring a strong physical presence to our team this year. She's very powerful and she has a good feel for what needs to be accomplished in the low post. We are excited to bring in both these girls and develop their games."

West was also abroad this summer representing her country as she played with the New Zealand Tall Ferns at the FIBA Asia Cup. West played in three of the five matches at the tournament and averaged 2.3 minutes. She was the only collegiate athlete chosen for the team on a roster of 14 players.
 
Thomas is entering his 14th-season as head coach of Saint Mary's and his 27th year of coaching. Thomas holds a 256-160 recording during his time with the Gaels and an overall record of 492-318, putting him just eight wins shy of his 500th career victory. He has led the Gaels to 20+ win seasons in the last eight-consecutive years and nine total in his career.

Thomas passed Terri Rubenstein (1985-97, 236 wins) last season as the winningest coach in SMC women's basketball history.

The Gaels will open their season on the road against Nevada, before returning to Moraga to face UC Santa Barbara in their home opener (Nov. 8). Saint Mary's has 11 non-conference matchups slated to begin the season including their first-ever matchup against NC State, a face-off with Kansas, and a road trip back East for the University of Central Florida Tournament. SMC will open their WCC schedule against San Francisco on December 28 before they play their first conference games at home on January 2 and 4 against Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount respectively. SMC will also make their annual trip to the Pacific Northwest to face Gonzaga and Portland (Jan. 9 and Jan. 11) as well as a trip down south to face LMU and Pepperdine (Jan. 30 and Feb. 1). 
 
"Fans are going to see us open up the floor more than in the past this season and our shooting game will develop more as well," said Thomas. "I look forward to seeing us grow as a team this year and can't wait to see what this season has in store!"
 
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