PORTLAND, Ore. — Rounding out a long weekend away from California, Saint Mary's Women's Basketball was looking to bounce back on Saturday against the Portland Pilots. The Gaels went on a few big runs to close in on an early Pilots lead, but could not complete the comeback en route to a 78-65 defeat inside the Chiles Center on Saturday. With the loss, Saint Mary's falls to 4-2 in conference play while the Pilots are now 2-3.
 
GET YOUR BRUSHES OUT
 
From the onset of the contest, points in the paint was the instrumental statistic that told the slow start for the Gaels. In the opening ten minutes, the Pilots put up 16 of their 25 points in the paint, while the Gaels countered with only eight. The final totals weren't much better, with the Pilots racking up 52 points inside the paint, with Saint Mary's putting up 32. Emily Codding was one of the strongest forces inside for the Gaels, putting up 13 points while leading the team with eight rebounds.
 
WILD FOR WEDIN
 
Taycee Wedin has been heavily involved in the offense for Saint Mary's, leading to Player of the Week honors in the WCC last week, and she capped off this week with a strong showing against the Pilots. No Gael took more shots on Saturday, which is the first time this season Wedin has taken the most shots of any player. It wasn't her most efficient performance, as she was just 3-13 from beyond the arc, but it was good enough for 15 points.
 
ONE FINAL PUSH
 
Saint Mary's gave one final push in the fourth quarter to make the game interesting, with three consecutive buckets that resulted in successful three-pointers. Over an 80 second stretch, Codding hit a pair of threes and Madeline Holland hit one more as the Gaels trimmed a deficit of 14 into a five-point contest with just over six minutes remaining. Tyra Moe hit a layup a few possessions later that kept the game within striking distance at six points, but the Pilots defense tightened up at the end and kept the Gaels shots off target.
 
UP NEXT
 
The Gaels will return home for the next three games in West Coast Conference play, starting on Thursday night inside University Credit Union Pavilion. San Diego comes to town on Thursday, January 16, with tip-off set for 6:30 pm. Also featured on this upcoming homestand is BYU (Jan. 18) and University of the Pacific (Jan. 25).
 
#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.