Games #23
Saint Mary's Gaels (WCC 5-6, 10-12) vs. Portland Pilots (WCC 6-5, 13-9)
Thursday, February 6 at 6:30 p.m.
Moraga, Calif. – University Credit Union Pavilion
Live Stats | Watch

Games #24
Saint Mary's Gaels (WCC 5-6, 10-12) vs. No. 11 Gonzaga Bulldogs (WCC 11-0, 22-1)
Saturday, February 8 at 2:00 p.m.
Moraga, Calif. – University Credit Union Pavilion
Live Stats | Watch 

MORAGA, Calif. — The Gaels return home this week to host the Portland Pilots and the No. 11 Gonzaga Bulldogs for two big conference matchups.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Gaels split their two competitions last week as they took 70-61 victory over Loyola Marymount on the road and then fell to Pepperdine in overtime 73-64. Saint Mary's win against the Lions snapped a five-game losing streak for the team as they shot 45 percent from the field and sophomore Taycee Wedin led the team with five treys. Last Saturday when the Gaels took on the Waves, the contest was close all the way to the end, but it was foul trouble in the overtime period that eventually sealed the win for Pepperdine. SMC is now 1-2 in overtime matchups as they lost a heartbreaker to Pacific just two weeks ago. The Gaels are now tied with Pepperdine for fifth in the West Coast Conference.
  
SMC RANKINGS
Saint Mary's continues to shoot well from the three-point line this season and they remain in the rankings. The Gaels are currently ranked first in the conference in three-point field goals attempted (582, 7th nationally), made (216, 4th nationally), and three-pointers per game (9.8, 5th nationally). The team is also ranked highly in three-point field goal percentage (37.1) as they are second in the WCC and 16th in the country. Wedin is ranked first in all four three-point shooting categories, while her average per game is also ranked third in the country. Sophomore Sam Simons is close behind as she is ranked third in the conference in made threes, threes per game, and three-point percentage. The Gaels have also been clutch from the free-throw line as they are ranked first in the WCC and 27th nationally with a free-throw percentage of 75.8.
 
PORTLAND
The Pilots are 13-9 this season with a winning conference record of 6-5. The team dropped two contests at home last week as they fell to BYU and San Diego which snapped a five-game win streak for UP. In both games, the Pilots were leading their opponents at the half but were unable to keep a hold of their lead and took losses in the end. Portland is currently tied with Pacific for fourth place in the West Coast Conference behind San Diego. Following Thursday's matchup against Saint Mary's, the Pilots will travel to Stockton to take on the Tigers. Last time the Gaels and the Pilots met, it was Portland who took the 78-65 win at the Chiles Center as they shot 51 percent from the field and 33 percent from the three-point line.
 
NO. 11 GONZAGA
The Bulldogs are having the strongest season in the conference as they are 11-0 through WCC play and have only lost one game all year. Gonzaga has not taken a loss since November 17 where they went into overtime with Stanford and eventually fell 76-70. The Bulldogs are ranked first in the conference and 12th in the country. Gonzaga will travel to UCU Pavilion for the only time this year, however the Bulldog's only loss this season was on the road. Following their contest against the Gaels, the team will travel back to Spokane for games against USF and Santa Clara. When Saint Mary's and Gonzaga met earlier this season, the Bulldogs won 74-49 which is the lowest score SMC has recorded this year.

#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.