MORAGA, Calif. — With non-conference games finished, Saint Mary's Women's Basketball will begin its slate of conference games within the West Coast Conference on Wednesday afternoon as they host the Pacific Tigers in their WCC opener.
 
THE DETAILS
Pacific Tigers (2-1) at Saint Mary's Gaels (2-4)
Wednesday, December 30 at 1:00 pm
University Credit Union Pavilion – Moraga, Calif.
Watch Live (with Ben Ross) | Live Stats
 
LAST TIME OUT
Saint Mary's played its home opener before the Christmas holiday and turned in their best performance of the season as they took down the Wolf Pack of Nevada 83-68 on December 21. Saint Mary's took control from the opening tip-off and never looked back, dominating the paint with 46 points down low and knocking down 20 shots from the free throw line. As a team, it was their best shooting performance of the year, totaling 52.7% from the floor and 45.5% from beyond the arc.
 
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.
 
ABOUT PACIFIC
Conference play begins against the Pacific Tigers, who have had a disjointed start to the year because of COVID-related cancelations. Their season opener was not until December 15, when they hosted top-ranked Stanford in a 104-61 defeat by the Cardinal. Just before Christmas, they played two games in the Duel in the Desert, and beat LSU (73-64) and UNLV (77-75, 2OT). All-WCC star Valerie Higgins is back as a redshirt senior and off to a fast start, averaging 15.7 PPG, while leading the Tigers in rebounds, steals, and blocks. Similar to the Gaels, three others are scoring in double-figures to begin the season, with Brooklyn McDavid (13.7 PPG), Lianna Tillman (11.3 PPG), and Rosie Schweizer (11.0 PPG) carrying the load.
 
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