Game #29
Saint Mary's Gaels (18-10, 11-6 WCC) vs. Pacific Tigers (17-10, 10-7 WCC)
Friday, March 1, 2019 at 7:00 p.m.
Moraga, Calif. — McKeon Pavilion
Live Stats
Watch
MORAGA, Calif. — The Gaels will host the Pacific Tigers on Friday night for their final regular season game of 2019, which will include Senior Night recognition for
Sydney Raggio,
Megan McKay,
Carly Turner, and
Morgan Malloy.
SCOUTING REPORT
Saint Mary's is coming into their final game of the regular season with an 18-10 record and an 11-6 record in conference play. The Gaels are most recently coming off of a nail-biting loss to Pepperdine in the final minutes of the matchup, which they only lost by five points. SMC is currently ranked fourth in the conference behind Pepperdine, BYU, and Gonzaga, and are ranked 56th in the NCAA RPI poll. The squad is ranked seventh in the nation in field-goal percentage (48.4) with Gonzaga (19th) being the the only other WCC team to be ranked in the top-50. Saint Mary's is also ranked 21st nationally in three-point field goal percentage (37.0), just behind Gonzaga who is ranked 20th (37.1).
The Gaels are ranked first in the conference in scoring with an average of 76.4 points per game, and first in the conference in three-point field goal percentage (.375). They are also ranked first in the conference and 18th in the nation in rebound margin (+7.9) while Raggio is ranked third in the WCC in rebounding with an average of 8.8 per game. Four Gaels are ranked in the top-10 in field goal percentage as McKay is ranked first (.608), Raggio is ranked fifth (.519), freshman Sam Simons is ranked sixth (.517), and junior Jasmine Forcadilla is ranked tenth (.482). Three players are ranked in the top five for the conference in three-point field goal percentage with sophomore Madeline Holland ranked second (.424), Simons ranked fourth (.421), and Forcadilla ranked fifth (.415). Raggio is tied for third in the conference with nine double-doubles, while McKay is tied for fourth with six.
SENIOR SEND-OFF
Sydney Raggio:
Senior Raggio will be leaving the Gaels after four illustrious and high-powered years with the program. Raggio is solidified in the Saint Mary's record books as a top rebounder in the program as she currently fourth all-time with 998. She is also ranked third on the all-time rebounding list with an average of 8.1 per game. She has also been a staple in the list of SMC starters since she joined the team and is tied for eighth all-time in number of games played in a single season (33) which she accomplished during her sophomore year. That statistic places her sixth on the list for all-time number of games started in a single season (33). The San Bruno Calif. native collected her 1,000th point during her junior season in a matchup against the Portland Pilots (Jan. 27, 2018). She currently has 1,493 points in her career and is set to score her second-most points in a season this year, as her personal best is 434 (2017-18) while she has recorded 359 thus far. Raggio is two rebounds shy of collecting her 1,000th career rebounds and is set to surpass the benchmark during Friday night's game. If accomplished, she would become just the fourth Gael in program history to collect both 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. She has also been an all-conference selection the last two years in a row and was named to the WCC all-freshman team during her first year as a Gael.
Megan McKay:
McKay is another big-time contributor that will be leaving SMC at the end of the 2018-19 season after a strong and record-breaking career as a Gael. McKay is the WCC leader in field-goal percentage at .608 (138-of-217) this season. Already the first student-athlete to lead the conference in field goal percentage over three-consecutive seasons, she can extend her record to become the first student-athlete in conference history to lead the WCC in field goal percentage in all four seasons of eligibility after also leading the league in 2016 (.619), 2017 (.557), and 2018 (.608). She is ranked first (.619), second (.608), and ninth (.557) on the all-time list for program field-goal percentage leaders in a single season. McKay is also a member of the 1,000-point-club, as she reached the milestone during her junior season in a game versus Pepperdine (Feb. 22, 2018) during which she recorded a career-high, 30 points in the victory. She currently has 1,396 points in her career and collected a season-high, 460 points during the 2017-18 season. McKay was an all-conference selection the last two seasons in a row.
Carly Turner:
Turner will be leaving Saint Mary's after a number of years of being a strong presence on and off the court. Turner is ranked 11th on the all-time list for number of three-point field goals made (57) in a season which she achieved during her third year as a Gael. She is also ranked twice on the all-time list for number of games played in a season (33) for both her freshman and junior years, while being ranked sixth on the all-time games started list (33) for her junior year. Turner is just shy (797) of collecting her 800th career point as a Gael and recorded her career-high, 333 points in a season during her junior year. Turner was named a WCC all-conference selection for the 2016-17 season after starting in every game for the Gaels for the first time in her career. She is also an exemplary student off the court and was recently named to the WCC all-academic team with a GPA of 3.9 in Business Administration after being named an honorable mention in the 2016-17 and 2015-16 seasons.
Morgan Malloy:
Malloy is the final graduating senior that will be leaving the Gaels after this season. Malloy had played in 15 games for the Gaels prior to this year and has already appeared in 14 games this season. She has tripled her playing minutes (30) since last year. Malloy recorded a career-high, six points during this season's game against Texas State on December 21 when she collected two three-pointers.
PACIFIC
The Tigers will be visiting the Gaels with a record of 17-10 on the season and a conference record of 10-7. As they are neck-and-neck with the Gaels in the conference stadnings, the Tigers will be vying to overtake fourth place and secure a first-round bye. Pacific is coming off of a 81-75 victory over LMU, but dropped their previous two matchups to Pepperdine and Santa Clara. The first time that the Gaels and the Tigers met this year, the Tigers took a 76-67 win at home on December 31 during the first conference matchup for both teams.
Sophomore Brooklyn McDavid leads the Tigers with a shooting percentage of .473 and is second on the team with an average of 15.3 points per game. Senior Ameela Li holds the top spot with a three-point percentage of .382 and is averaging the most minutes on the team (33.8). Pacific is ranked first in the conference in free throw percentage (.759) and steals per game with an average of 10. Sophomore Valerie Higgins is ranked first on the team and second in the conference with an average of 8.9 rebounds per contest.
#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.