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SMC California Athletics

Saint Mary's College Athletics Gaels
Taycee Wedin
Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner
60
Gonzaga Gonz 23-2,12-1 WCC
70
Winner Saint Mary's (CA) SMC 11-13,6-7 WCC
Gonzaga Gonz
23-2,12-1 WCC
60
Final
70
Saint Mary's (CA) SMC
11-13,6-7 WCC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Gonzaga Gonz 4 19 14 23 60
Saint Mary's (CA) SMC 18 14 23 15 70

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

WBB | Gaels Upset No. 11 Gonzaga

MORAGA, Calif. – Saint Mary's posted their biggest victory of the season on Saturday as they upset No. 11 Gonzaga at home.

GAELS ON FIRE
Saint Mary's dominated on the court on Saturday as they spent the entire contest leading the No.11 Bulldogs while holding them to just 33 percent from the field. 14 made threes from the Gaels is just four shy of their season-high as a team which they recorded on December 7 against Cal Poly. In the first period alone, Gonzaga only made one of their 15 total field goal attempts while finishing the game 21-for-64 on the floor and 9-for-27 from deep. Saint Mary's recorded their largest lead of the game in the final period where they went on a 11-0 run as they were leading by 21 points. SMC's defense shined throughout the contest as they outrebounded the Bulldogs 28-20, which is the fewest number of boards the Zags collected this season. 

SEEING TRIPLE
The Gaels were led by Taycee Wedin who racked up 24 points tying her season-high as she made nine of her 14 field goal attempts and went 6-for-9 from distance. Wedin also posted a career-high three steals in the game. Sam Simons was also at the forefront of the Gaels' efforts as she put up 22 points, while going 7-for-12 from the field and shooting a perfect 5-for-5 from deep. SMC ended the day shooting 56.5 percent (26-46) from the field and 66.7 percent (14-21) from beyond the arc, which is their best three-point performance of the season. Katie Rathbun and Madeline Holland also chipped in three-pointers for the Gaels. The Zags only made nine of their 27 attempted threes (33%) on Saturday.

NOT YOUR REGULAR UPSET
Saturday's win wasn't just a big win for this season, but a big win for the program as a whole. Saint Mary's defeat of No. 11 Gonzaga is the best win in head coach Paul Thomas' 14 year tenure. The victory for the Gaels is their first win against a ranked opponent since the 2015-16 season when they beat No. 18 Cal on December 5, 2015. The last time SMC took a win against the Bulldogs was on February 10, 2018 when the Gaels won 72-56 on the road. Saint Mary's has not had a win at home against Gonzaga since February 18, 2016. The win for Saint Mary's was Gonzaga's first defeat in West Coast Conference action this season and their first loss since November 17 when they fell 76-70 to Stanford in overtime. 

QUOTABLE
"We came into this game knowing we had nothing to lose," guard Taycee Wedin said following the win. "We all just stepped up on defense and offense tonight and played to our strengths."

"We did a great job keeping our composure," head coach Paul Thomas said after the biggest win in his era as head coach. "We looked a little frazzled at times there, but we took deep breaths, had timeouts in the right spots, and we did a wonderful job of staying together."

UP NEXT

The Gaels will travel to Utah to face off against BYU on Thursday at 6 p.m. 

#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.

 
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