SPOKANE, Wash. — Following the opening of WCC play on Wednesday, Saint Mary's Women's Basketball hits the road for the first time in conference play over the weekend. The Gaels kick off 2021 by taking on #23 Gonzaga on Saturday and then the Portland Pilots on Monday afternoon.
 
THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's Gaels (2-5) at #23 Gonzaga Bulldogs (7-2)
Saturday, January 2 at 2:00 pm
McCarthey Athletic Center – Spokane, Wash.
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Saint Mary's Gaels (2-5) at Portland Pilots (5-3)
Monday, January 4 at 2:00 pm
Chiles Center – Portland, Ore.
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LAST TIME OUT
Conference play began on Wednesday inside UCU Pavilion as Saint Mary's dueled with Pacific. For the second consecutive year, the game hosted in Moraga went into overtime, with Pacific prevailing 78-70. Neither team was able to shoot the basketball particularly well, with both teams under 40%, but the Gaels were able to erase a nine-point fourth quarter deficit to force the extra frame. Taycee Wedin led the Gaels in points with 15, and for the fifth time in seven games, Madeline Holland put up 14 points.
 
THE CATCH
The Gaels again fell behind early in the fourth quarter, with the deficit climbing to nine points before Saint Mary's began chipping away. Finau Tonga used three great moves in the paint to toss up three layups, eventually making it just a one-point Tigers lead with just over three minutes remaining. What seemed like it could be the winner came from Jade Kirisome, who knocked down a corner three with less than a minute to go, giving Saint Mary's a 63-61. Valerie Higgins for Pacific responded with a shot in the paint, and the game went to overtime at 63-63.
 
ABOUT GONZAGA
The Zags enter this matchup against the Gaels as the only ranked team in the WCC, currently holding the #23 spot in the NCAA polls. They received a scare in their WCC opener against LMU, but hung on to win the game by three before putting on a defensive clinic against Pepperdine on Wednesday, winning 58-42. Gonzaga is 7-2 on the year, with losses to South Carolina (ranked #5) and South Dakota State (receiving votes). Scoring is deep on this year's team, led by Jill Townsend and her 14.2 points per game, followed closely behind by the Wirth sisters (Jenn, 12.4 PPG...LeeAnne, 9.4 PPG). Perhaps one area where Saint Mary's and Gonzaga are nearly identical comes in the rebounding department, where Gonzaga is bringing in 42.3 rebounds per game, compared to Saint Mary's and their WCC-best 44.4 per game.
 
ABOUT PORTLAND
Last season's WCC Tournament champions, the Portland Pilots are out to prove that last year's title, when the team was the fourth seed in the field, is no fluke. So far so good, as the Pilots are 5-3 and started off WCC play by beating Pepperdine and LMU to start as one of three teams in the WCC at 2-0. They received a few tests in the non-conference portion of their schedule, most notably in a November loss to current eighth-ranked team in the country, Oregon. Portland's defense is allowing opponents to shoot at a 46% clip, but the Pilots have made up for it by getting to the line nearly 40 more times than the opposition. Alex Fowler was one of the best players in the conference last year, and so far she is leading Portland in points, rebounds, and steals.
 
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