Game #2
Saint Mary's Gaels (0-1) vs. UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (1-0)
Friday, November 8, 2019 at 6:30 p.m.
Moraga, Calif. — McKeon Pavilion
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Game #3
Saint Mary's Gaels (0-1) vs. Wyoming Cowgirls
Sunday, November 10, 2019 at Noon
Laramie, Wyo. — Arena-Auditorium
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MORAGA, Calif. — The Gaels continue their busy, first week of the season on Friday as they host UC Santa Barbara for the home-opener before traveling to face Wyoming on Sunday.

SCOUTING REPORT
Saint Mary's battled hard in their first game of the season on Tuesday, but they fell by just six points to the Nevada Wolfpack. The Gaels dominated the glass as they outrebounded Nevada by a margin of 14 (42-28) with junior Madeline Holland recording a team-high eight rebounds on the night. Saint Mary's also outshot their opponent in the opening contest as they ended the game with a shooting percentage of 48.4 compared to Nevada's 47.6. Sophomore Sam Simons was the top-scorer for SMC against the Wolfpack as she recorded 21 points, which is just seven shy of her career-high that she recorded last season. Junior Emily Codding also stepped up as she shot 6-for-11, scored 13 points, and nabbed six rebounds as well as a block and a steal.

Simons was also named to the 2019-20 preseason squad prior to the start of the year following an impressive freshman campaign which included landing a spot on the All-West Coast Conference Freshman team. The Adelaide, Australia native burst onto the scene in 2018-19, appearing in all 33 games with 14 starts. She averaged 11.1 points and 3.5 rebounds while ranking fifth in the WCC in three-point field goal percentage (.405), and seventh in overall shooting (.497). Her best performance came on February 14 against Santa Clara when she tallied 28 points, including six triples and four steals.

Freshman Finau Tonga made her collegiate debut against the Wolfpack and saw seven minutes of action in the contest. Tonga recorded two points off of a clean layup in the third quarter as well as a defensive rebound during the same period. As a junior in high school, Tonga averaged 14.3 points and nine rebounds per game.

UC SANTA BARBARA
The Gauchos opened their season with a 59-51 win against the Utah Valley Wolverines at home on Tuesday. Guard Danae Miller led UCSB with a total of 24 points, six defensive rebounds, and four assists on the night. UC Santa Barbara ended the 2018-19 season with a record of 8-22 and they went 5-11 in Big West Conference play. They started last season by going 1-5 after winning their season-opener and then dropping the next five consecutive matchups. The Gauchos ended in eighth place in the Big West following a first round loss to UC Irvine in their final contest of the season.

The Gaels and the Gauchos have only met 13 times in program history and Saint Mary's has the narrow edge over UCSB for the all-time record (7-6). Last season, SMC took the win against UC Santa Barbara, winning by a margin of 25 points (80-55) which was their second largest victory of the season. The Gaels have won the last four contests against the Gauchos dating back to the 2012-2013 season, with the last UCSB-win taking place on November 17, 2011.

WYOMING
Wyoming has not yet started the 2019-2020 season as their first contest is slated for Wednesday night against Colorado Christian University at home. The Cowgirls will open their season with two games in Laramie before hitting the road for a matchup against Denver. Wyoming went 25-9 last season and were 13-5 in Mountain West conference play. The Cowgirls ended up second in their conference after they made it to the championship match but fell to Boise State 68-51. They opened their season by going 4-1 including three wins where they won by a margin of 36 points or higher.

Saint Mary's and Wyoming have played each other just twice in program history with their first contest taking place only five seasons ago. The Gaels have won both games as they took the 70-64 victory on November 20, 2015 in their first ever contest and then beat out the Cowgirls last season 90-84 on November 9 in the season-opener for SMC.

#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.