MORAGA, Calif. – The Gaels opened their season at home on Friday with a 21-point victory over UC Santa Barbara.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• QUARTER 1 | Junior Brianna Simonich got the game going for Saint Mary's as she collected the first layup of the contest. Emily Codding immediately followed suit as she recorded a trey to give the Gaels a 5-2 lead over UCSB. The Gauchos responded with a three-pointer of their own however Finau Tonga would go on to earn her first two points of the game to improve the Gaels' lead. UCSB managed to respond with a pair of layups to take 14-10 lead over SMC. Both teams continued to exchange buckets before Madeline Holland tallied a layup and two free-throws to cut the Gaels' deficit to just one point. With just over a minute of action left, neither team put up a point until Holland added two free throws to the board in the final seconds due to a Gaucho foul to end the period with a 15-14 lead. 
   
• QUARTER 2 | UCSB put up four points to get the second period started before Sam Simons and Emily Codding each chipped in two points of their own to tie up the game 19-19. Saint Mary's and UCSB were neck-and-neck throughout the first half of the second period but Saint Mary's kept it close as they didn't trail the Gauchos by more than two points. Holland and Codding continued to perform for SMC as they each recorded a layup to put the Gaels up 27-26. Jordyn Boesel collected her first points of the game with just two minutes of play left as she went 2-for-2 from the free-throw line. Codding reached double-digits in points soon after as she drained her second trey of the game. Saint Mary's would go on to finish the second period on a 6-0 run for their biggest run of the game with a 31-26 lead over the Gauchos. 
   
• QUARTER 3 | Simonich got the second half started for the Gaels after making a layup within the first minute of play. Holland reached double-digits after drilling her first three-pointer of the game to put the Gaels up 36-27 and on an 11-1 run which forced UCSB to call a timeout. Following the timeout, the Gauchos responded with a layup but it did not impact the Gaels as Simons collected another two points to keep the Gaels in a 9-point lead. Holland continued to hold her momentum after adding two more points to the board to improve the score to 40-29 with SMC in the lead. The Gaels were able to carry their lead as three different Gaels consistently added points to the board, including Simonich who also reached double-digits during the period. Taycee Wedin improved the Gaels' lead after scoring back-to-back three-pointers to put SMC up 52-37. USCB responded to the Gaels with a layup of their own but it was not enough to cut their deficit as Wedin drained her third-straight three-pointer. After recording 21 points in the quarter, Saint Mary's ended the period with a 16-point lead atop UCSB.
   
• QUARTER 4 | The Gaels continued to shine in the final quarter as Katie Rathbun collected her first points of the game after scoring a layup to further the lead for SMC. Holland brought the Gaels to an almost 20-point lead after successfully making her fifth free-throw of the contest which was directly followed by a layup from Simons. After a couple of minutes of neither team putting up a point, Simons put up another layup to add two more points to the board Boesel recorded two free-throws to improve the Gaels' lead by 22 points. Within the quarter, Codding picked up her first double-double of the season as she posted 10 points and 10 rebounds. The Gaels remained in control through the remainder of the game and eventually recorded the 64-43 victory. 

NUMBERS TO KNOW

• 53: SMC outrebounded UCSB 53-36.
• 30: Number of points scored in the paint by Saint Mary's.
• 4: Number of Gaels to collect double-digit points (Holland 16 pts, Simons 11 pts, Wedin 11 pts, Codding 10 pts).
• 10: Codding and Simonich led the team with 10 rebounds a piece. 

QUOTABLE

"I felt as though Taycee had a rough go at it in Nevada and started off tonight a little rough, but she hung with it and I think her three-pointers in the second half kind of sparked us and you could see her teammates get a little more bounce in their step," said head coach Paul Thomas. "That helped a lot and I thought Finau had a really high energy game and she is one of those people that makes everybody else play with some enthusiasm which is a super good quality to have. When we pulled ahead in the third quarter, we did a really good job rebounding the ball so that's what it came down to and that was the game right there."

COMING UP

The Gaels will travel to Wyoming on Saturday to face off against the Cowgirls at noon. 

#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.