WBB | Gaels Come Up Just Short In Season Opener Versus Nevada

Tuesday, November 5

Reno, Nev.

3:00 p.m.

Saint Mary's College of California

0-1,0-0WCC

Nevada

1-0,0-0Mountain West

Saint Mary's (CA)

Nevada

Photo by: Tod Fierner

WBB | Gaels Come Up Just Short In Season Opener Versus Nevada

11/5/2019 6:05:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

RENO, Nev. – The Gaels opened their season on the road against the Nevada Wolfpack on Tuesday and despite a strong third quarter, SMC fell by just six points.

HOW IT HAPPENED

QUARTER 1 | Saint Mary's and Nevada began the game neck-and-neck with neither team going up by more than two points until there was less than a minute left in the quarter. Sophomore Sam Simons scored the first six points of the matchup for SMC with jumper and two consecutive layups. There was a two minute stretch from the five-minute mark to the three-minute mark where both teams stepped up and no points were scored on either side during which time Saint Mary's picked up six rebounds (four OR, two DR). By the end of the first, the Wolfpack had pulled ahead by five points despite eight lead changes in the quarter.

QUARTER 2 | Junior Madeline Holland got the scoring started for SMC in the second quarter as she nailed her first three-pointer of the season to pull within two points of Nevada. The Wolfpack however went on a 6-1 run shortly after and extended their lead over Saint Mary's to seven points (23-16) before junior Emily Codding was able to hit another three for the Gaels. Simons continued to rack up her points as she scored her ninth point just after the six-minute mark, however Nevada continued to pour on the offense as they scored five unanswered points in the middle of the quarter to go ahead 30-21. Shortly after, the Wolfpack pulled out to a 12-point lead, which would end up being their largest in the contest, before Codding and senior Tyra Moe recorded layups to bring the lead back to single digits. As the two teams went into the half, the home team held the 35-27 advantage despite having scored on three more points than the Gaels in the second quarter.

QUARTER 3 | The third quarter is where the Gaels shined as they outscored Nevada 18 to 14 as well as outshot them by a wide margin (50.0 compared to 37.5). While the Wolfpack scored the first two points after returning from the break, Saint Mary's responded with jumpers from senior Claire Ferguson and junior Brianna Simonich before their opponents were able to score again. Freshman Finau Tonga then scored the first two points of her collegiate career in the third period as she landed a clean layup to bring SMC within nine points of Nevada with just under four minutes to go. The Gaels then poured on seven points and five rebounds in the final minutes of the period to bring the score to 49-45 in favor of the Wolfpack. Saint Mary's more than doubled the number of rebounds of Nevada in the third quarter as SMC collected 13 compared to Nevada's six.

QUARTER 4 | Both the Gaels and the Wolfpack buckled down in the final quarter of action as both scored nearly 30 points apiece. SMC tied the game soon after the last frame began as a layup from Codding and two successful free-throws from Holland brought the score to a 49-49 deadlock. The teams began to trade buckets back and forth including a number of shots from Simons who accumulated 10 points in the fourth quarter alone. With just under six minutes left to go in the contest, Nevada pulled out to a 63-56 lead, their largest of the period so far, after going on a 6-0 run. Saint Mary's responded as sophomore Taycee Wedin scored her first seven points of the season to bring the Gaels back within three points of the Wolfpack with under a minute to go. The late push from SMC was ultimately not enough as Nevada went on to win the matchup 78-72.

NUMBERS TO KNOW

21: Simons recorded a team-high, 21 points in the contest, which is just seven points shy of her career-high which she recorded last season against Santa Clara (Feb. 14)
48.4: Gaels combined shooting percentage versus Nevada who shot 47.6 percent.
42: Total number of rebounds for Saint Mary's, who outrebounded their opponent by a margin of 14
#32: Tonga made her first collegiate appearance on Tuesday and recorded seven minutes of play, two points, and one defensive rebound
8: Holland led the team with a total of eight rebounds (5 OR, 3 DR)

COMING UP

After opening their season on the road, the Gaels will return to Moraga on Friday for their home opener against UCSB with a 6:30 p.m. tipoff time.

#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.