WBB | Dalton Leads Gaels in Season Opener Against VCU

Wednesday, November 25

Phoenix, AZ

6:30 PM

Saint Mary's College of California

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VCU

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VCU

Saint Mary's (CA)

WBB | Dalton Leads Gaels in Season Opener Against VCU

11/25/2020 8:37:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

PHOENIX — Saint Mary's (0-1) fought back after trailing early and tested VCU (1-0) for a full 40 minutes but ultimately came up short in the team's season opener, 87-79.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Freshman Tayla Dalton led the team with 16 points in 26 minutes in her Saint Mary's debut. Taycee Wedin added 15 points on five made treys while Madeline Holland scored 14 and dished out five assists.

Amy West (11) and Jade Kirisome (10) also figured into double digit points in their Gael debuts. Brianna Simonich grabbed 10 rebounds and had six assists to lead the team in both categories.

Saint Mary's got off to a slow start offensively and VCU jumped out to a 17-5 lead six minutes in. After trailing 24-13 into the first quarter break, the Gaels roared back with an immediate 10-0 run to make it a one possession game.

Both teams would each score 20 points in the second quarter so Saint Mary's headed into halftime down by 11. West and Wedin each had six points in the first half to lead the team.

VCU led by as much as 16 in the third quarter but the Gaels resiliently fought back and once again cut the deficit down to just two with a 7-0 run late in the period. Dalton had back to back layups and Holland hit a three to cap off the run.

After the Rams edged ahead in the fourth, Saint Mary's strung together a 10-3 run to bring the score to 72-71 with 3:44 to play. The one-point deficit was the closest SMC came to taking back the lead since minutes into the second quarter. Unfortunately VCU answered back with a 7-0 run and would make six free throws late to seal the win.

VCU's Tera Reed led all players in the contest with 22 points and went 9-for-10 at the charity stripe.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
45: The Gaels shot 45 percent from beyond the arc (13-29).
22: Saint Mary's earned 22 offensive rebounds in the game.
13: The Rams shot 13 more free throws than SMC.
18: SMC had 18 assists compared to 16 for VCU.

UP NEXT: STEPHEN F. AUSTIN
Saint Mary's will have Thanksgiving Day off before taking on the Ladyjacks at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Links to the game can be found on the team's schedule page.

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