WBB | Saint Mary's Returns Home to Host SCU, USF

Thursday, February 14

Moraga, Calif.

6:30 p.m.

Saint Mary's College of California

Santa Clara

Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner

WBB | Saint Mary's Returns Home to Host SCU, USF

2/13/2019 11:01:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Game #25
Saint Mary's Gaels (16-8, 9-4 WCC) vs. Santa Clara Broncos (10-13, 3-9 WCC)
Thursday, February 14, 2019 at 6:30 p.m.
Moraga, Calif. — McKeon Pavilion
Live Stats
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Game #26
Saint Mary's Gaels (14-8, 7-4 WCC) vs. San Francisco Dons (6-17, 2-10 WCC)
Saturday, February 16, 2019 at 1:00 p.m.
Moraga, Calif. — McKeon Pavilion
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MORAGA, Calif. — Riding a wave of seven wins in eight games, Saint Mary's looks to continue rolling as they return to Moraga to host Santa Clara and San Francisco this week.

SCOUTING REPORT

On the road last week, the Gaels earned a pair of wins including an important, 3-point victory over second-place BYU. Then, SMC dominated the contest against San Diego, emerging with a 31-point win (their biggest point differential since February of 2016).

Senior Sydney Raggio was named this week's Muscle Milk Student-Athlete of the Week for her solid performances over the last two games. Overall, she averaged a double-double with 13.0 points and 11.0 rebounds while shooting 63.2 percent (12-for-19). She has produced double-digit points in each of her last six games and has seven double-doubles on the season. The San Bruno, Calif. native also leads Saint Mary's with an average, 8.6 rebounds (ranked third in in the WCC) this season and is second with 12.1 points per game. Also, with 959 career rebounds, Raggio is just 41 boards away from 1,000 in her career.

Senior Megan McKay has also aided the Gaels' offensive efforts as of late, shooting 76.9% (30-39) over her last five games and is now shooting a conference-high, 60 percent (16th in the nation). She is also ranked 15th in the country amongst active players with a career-field goal percentage of 59.4 (ranked No. 1 in program-history).

As a team, SMC has some of the best shooting in the country as they are ranked eighth in field goal percentage (48.3) and 10th in 3-point field goal percentage (38.6) – both first in the WCC. They are also tied for 23rd in 3-pointers per game (8.7).

SANTA CLARA

The Broncos' three conference wins this season have been against San Francisco, Loyola Marymount, and Portland. However as of late, they have lost four-straight contests coming into this week.

Santa Clara allows the third-fewest points in the conference (65.0 points per game) and they also force an average of 15.2 turnovers and 8.1 steals. Tia Hay leads the Broncos with 15.3 points per game (seventh in the WCC), as well as 3.8 assists, and 2.1 steals. On defense, Lauren Yearwood is ranked 13th in the country with 2.6 blocks per contest.

SAN FRANCISCO

The Dons currently have a 6-17 overall record while going 2-10 in conference. USF has dropped 10 of their last 11 contests with their last victory coming at Santa Clara on February 2. The Gaels defeated San Francisco in their previous contest by the score of 80-65 on January 17.

The Dons have a pair of players averaging double-digit points including Shannon Powell and Julia Nielacna. Powell's 16.3 points per game lead the team are ranked fourth in the conference. She also leads USF with 6.0 rebounds per game. Nielacna is second on the team with an average of 10.2 points per contest.

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