LAS VEGAS — As the regular season concludes, the second season officially begins as Saint Mary's Women's Basketball enters into the 2020 University Credit Union West Coast Conference Tournament in Las Vegas. Hosted at The Orleans Arena, the Gaels begin the tournament as the field's seventh-seed, opening up on Thursday, March 5 against tenth-seeded LMU. A win would advance the Gaels to Friday, where they would take on sixth-seeded Pepperdine, with a spot in the semifinals against third-seeded BYU on the line.
 
SEASON REVIEW
The Gaels raced out to a 4-0 start in WCC play before some major injuries hampered their chances at sustained success. The Gaels lost their last five games of the regular season in advance of the WCC Tournament, including losses to Santa Clara and San Francisco at home to end the season. Bright spots remained following the regular season: Sam Simons was named first-team All-WCC for the first time in her collegiate career, and Taycee Wedin made the list as an honorable mention recipient.
 
VIVA LAS VEGAS
The Gaels qualify for the WCC Tournament as the seventh seed in the field, meaning they take on tenth-seeded LMU to open up the tournament. Under head coach Paul Thomas, the Gaels have gone 9-13 in the WCC Tournament, and against LMU, the Gaels are 4-0 all-time against LMU in the postseason, most recently taking down the Lions 70-38 last year in the quarter finals.
 
RAIN TO THE DESERT
The Gaels bring one of the most prolific three-point shooting offenses to the WCC Tournament, ranking 13th in the NCAA in three-pointers attempted (727), 8th in three-pointers made (266), and 15th in percentage (36.6%). Individually, Tacyee Wedin finished the regular season as one of the best sharp-shooters in the country, finishing in a tie for the second-most treys made (99), and the fourth-best percentage (46.3%). The next three-pointer Wedin hits will be her 100th of the season, becoming the first player in WCC history to knock down 100 threes in a season.
 
REPORT – LMU LIONS
The Lions of LMU are the 10th seed in the WCC Tournament, finishing the regular season with a mark of 7-24 and 3-15 in WCC play. While the Lions struggled during the 2019-20 season, they did receive a pair of notable individual performances that were recognized by the conference. Chelsey Gipson was named as an honorable mention athlete on the All-WCC team announced earlier this week, while Ciera Ellington was named to the All-Freshman team in the conference.
 
The Gaels and Lions met twice during the regular season, with SMC beating the Lions both times. The first matchup came at home and went to the Gaels with an 86-70 final. That was the Gaels fourth conference win in a row to begin the year, but they did not get their fifth until the end of January when they beat LMU 70-61 in Los Angeles. The Gaels are 4-0 all-time against LMU in the postseason.
 
REPORT – PEPPERDINE WAVES
The Waves of Pepperdine are the sixth seed in the WCC Tournament, finishing the regular season with a mark of 14-14 and 8-10 in WCC play. It was a tale of hot and cold streaks for Pepperdine in 2019-20, as they struggled out of the gate, going 1-3 in conference play, but had a five-game winning streak from January 30-February 15. They did not win a game after that win streak, however, dropping their final four games of conference play. Pepperdine landed one on the All-WCC team in 2020, with Barbara Sitanggan getting the honors. Jayla Rufus-Milner was named to the All-Freshman team following a stellar first collegiate season.
 
The Gaels and Waves split during their regular season matches, with each home team coming away victorious. On January 2^nd, head coach Paul Thomas recorded his 500^th career coaching win against the Waves with an 85-78 final in Moraga. One month later, on the road, the Gaels fell in overtime 73-64 after failing to hit a game-winning shot on the final possession. 
 
REPORT – BYU COUGARS
The Cougars of BYU are the third seed in the WCC Tournament, finishing the regular season with a mark of 18-10 and 13-5 in WCC play, ending the season in a tie with San Diego. A late loss in the season to San Francisco put the second-seed out of reach for the Cougars, but they did rebound by beating Pepperdine and LMU to wrap up the regular season. The Cougars are a stout defensive team, holding opponents to just 54.5 points per game and 31.9% shooting from the field, thanks in part to Defensive Player of the Year Sara Hamson and her 133 blocks.
 
The Gaels dropped both of their regular-season matches with BYU, losing 65-55 at home and 60-39 at the Provo Center. The first contest featured both teams making 11 three-pointers, and Saint Mary's trailed by just three points entering the final quarter. In the final meeting, the Gaels did not score double-digits in points in a single quarter until the fourth, limited to just 23 points after 30 minutes of basketball. Saint Mary's was also blocked nine times in that game in Utah.
 
All three of these contests will be broadcast on a variety of platforms, all free of charge. Thursday's contest against LMU, with an expected tip-off time of 2:00 pm, can be seen on NBC Sports California, ROOT Sports Northwest, BYUtv, AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain, and the WCC Network. The Gaels will also be providing an audio-only local broadcast with Director of Communications Brian Brownfield on play-by-play, which can be accessed via the TuneIn app. Live stats for all games of the WCC Tournament can be found at www.WCCstats.com. 
 
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