MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary's Women's Basketball teams led by head coach Paul Thomas have been known for their offensive prowess. In this strange 2020-21 season, it took a few games for the offense to find its legs, but the Gaels came out firing on Monday afternoon. In their home opener against Nevada, Saint Mary's used efficient post play and trips to the free throw line to down the Wolf Pack 83-68. With the win, the Gaels have now won two straight, improving to 2-4, while giving Nevada its first loss of the season (4-1).
 
GOING PAINTING
Saint Mary's has been one of the best rebounding teams in the NCAA all season, but on Monday, it was the offense that showed it can score down low. Saint Mary's picked up 46 points in the paint in the win over Nevada, an impressive total considering the extra 20 points picked up from the free throw line. Fighting hard on the glass has been a staple of this team all season, and the Gaels grabbed 46 rebounds, compared to just 28 for the Wolf Pack.
 
DOUBLE DOUBLE-DOUBLES
Working off her second WCC Freshman of the Week award, Finau Tonga showed her game is continuing to elevate. After getting her first collegiate double-double against UC Irvine, she tallied her second on Monday, going for 15 points and 10 rebounds, including the first seven points of the game. Matching her nearly point-for-point and rebound-for-rebound was Brianna Simonich, who ended the contest with 10 points and 12 rebounds. This marks the first double-double for Simonich in her Gaels career, and she added to it by dishing out five assists.
 
STRONG SHOOTERS
In total, five Gaels reached the ten-point plateau in the win over Nevada. Tayla Dalton was the leading scorer for Saint Mary's in an efficient performance, going 7-9 from the floor and 2-2 from distance en route to 18 points, and early-season career-best for the freshman. Taycee Wedin returned to the starting lineup and went for 16 points, knocking down a pair of threes and hitting all six of her free throws. Madeline Holland was her usual self, going for 13 points on a perfect 5-5 from the floor, while adding six rebounds.
 
TO THE LINE
Both the Gaels and the Wolf Pack saw themselves at the free throw line early and often on Monday, with a total of 45 fouls being called, leading to 53 free throw attempts. The Gaels were solid at the line, knocking down 20 of their 28 attempts. Wedin was perfect, as mentioned above, and seven Gaels were able to cash in from the charity stripe, with Holland joining Wedin as the only perfect shooters (3-3). It marks the most free throws the Gaels have made in a game since December 30, 2019 in a road win at Santa Clara (20-24).
 
UP NEXT
The games mean just a little bit more coming out of the Christmas holiday as Saint Mary's hosts Pacific on Wednesday, December 30 for the West Coast Conference opener. Tip-off is set for 1:00 pm inside University Credit Union Pavilion and the game is the front half of a doubleheader with the men's basketball team, who will be playing Sacramento State later that evening.
 
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