Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner
WBB | WCC Play Begins With Trip to Santa Clara
12/29/2021 11:43:00 AM | Women's Basketball
MORAGA, Calif. — The Saint Mary's Women's Basketball Team beings WCC play on Thursday night in Santa Clara, Calif.. The Gaels lead the all-time season series 42-32 in what has been a series of streaks historically. The Broncos have won the last three meetings between the two, but that was preceded by two different nine-game win streak over Santa Clara by SMC in the past 20 years.
THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's (6-5) at Santa Clara (6-4)
Thursday, December 30 at 6:00 p.m.
Leavey Center – Santa Clara, Calif.
Watch Live | Live Stats |
LAST TIME OUT
The Gaels battled with the Cal Bears (9-2) for a quarter and a half before the Bears pulled away for a 73-55 victory over the Gaels.
Saint Mary's trailed just 26-24 with 4:42 remaining in the second quarter at the media timeout, but the Bears would cash in on the Gaels turnovers and cold shooting to go on a 9-1 run to finish the half up 35-25. The Gaels shot just 22% in the second and the Bears reclaimed the rebounding lead, out rebounding SMC 13-6 in the second, all while holding Saint Mary's to just six points in the quarter.
Cal did just enough to keep the Gaels at arm's length through the rest of the game, even though Saint Mary's made a run to trim the deficit to single digits after being down by 14 to start the fourth. After a pair of Madeline Holland free throws, the Gaels got back-to-back three pointers from Tayla Dalton and Ali Bamberger to cut it to eight at 56-48 with 7:31 remaining.
But the Bears would stretch the lead back to double digits for good taking a 64-49 lead into the last time out at 64-49 with just over six minutes remaining. Holland finished with 11 points and nine rebounds and Bamberger had 12 points with eight boards. Taycee Wedin hit two more three pointers, bringing her to needing just 14 more to tie the program record.
2021-22 YEARBOOK
The 2021-22 Saint Mary's Basketball Yearbook is available HERE. This contains all of your information on both Saint Mary's basketball programs, coach and player profiles, as well as Saint Mary's, administration, and fan information.
ABOUT SANTA CLARA
Last season the Broncos finished 14-11 overall and 9-8 in the West Coast Conference, earning the fourth seed in the conference tournament and advancing to the semifinals for the first time since 2016. They accomplished all of this despite their first eight games on the road and playing the majority of their home games in Santa Cruz, Calif. due to COVID.
The Broncos return top scorers Lindsey VanAllen and Merle Wiehl. Wiehl was named Preseason All-West Coast Conference in a poll of the league's 10 head coaches. Wiehl finished second on the team in scoring a season ago with 11.6 points per game and 5.1 rebounds per game. She knocked down a team-best 45 3-pointers while shooting 44.6-percent from beyond the arc, also tops on the team. She was also led the Broncos in shooting percentage overall with a mark of 52.9-percent.
The Broncos are averaging 70.8 points per game this year while shooting 42.5-percent from the field and 30.9-percent from beyond the arc. Defensively, they have allowed 60.3 ppg while forcing 17.4 turnovers per contest. VanAllen leads the team in scoring with 14.4 ppg. Wiehl leads with 7.8 rpg and scores 12.8 ppg. Ashley Hiraki is scoring 10.0 ppg with a team-best 3.9 apg.
The Broncos are missing some important pieces due to injury right now. VanAllen is out with an ankle injury sustained at Kansas City on December 14. Lexie Pritchard was injured at Long Beach State on November 21. Ashlee Maldonado will miss the season with a torn ACL. All three were projected starters before the season.
#GaelsRise — 2021-22 tickets and ticket packages are on sale now! To purchase tickets, click HERE. If you have questions, contact the ticket office by email smctickets@stmarys-ca.edu or call 925-631-4689…Saint Mary's Basketball…#TogetherAgain
THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's (6-5) at Santa Clara (6-4)
Thursday, December 30 at 6:00 p.m.
Leavey Center – Santa Clara, Calif.
Watch Live | Live Stats |
LAST TIME OUT
The Gaels battled with the Cal Bears (9-2) for a quarter and a half before the Bears pulled away for a 73-55 victory over the Gaels.
Saint Mary's trailed just 26-24 with 4:42 remaining in the second quarter at the media timeout, but the Bears would cash in on the Gaels turnovers and cold shooting to go on a 9-1 run to finish the half up 35-25. The Gaels shot just 22% in the second and the Bears reclaimed the rebounding lead, out rebounding SMC 13-6 in the second, all while holding Saint Mary's to just six points in the quarter.
Cal did just enough to keep the Gaels at arm's length through the rest of the game, even though Saint Mary's made a run to trim the deficit to single digits after being down by 14 to start the fourth. After a pair of Madeline Holland free throws, the Gaels got back-to-back three pointers from Tayla Dalton and Ali Bamberger to cut it to eight at 56-48 with 7:31 remaining.
But the Bears would stretch the lead back to double digits for good taking a 64-49 lead into the last time out at 64-49 with just over six minutes remaining. Holland finished with 11 points and nine rebounds and Bamberger had 12 points with eight boards. Taycee Wedin hit two more three pointers, bringing her to needing just 14 more to tie the program record.
2021-22 YEARBOOK
The 2021-22 Saint Mary's Basketball Yearbook is available HERE. This contains all of your information on both Saint Mary's basketball programs, coach and player profiles, as well as Saint Mary's, administration, and fan information.
ABOUT SANTA CLARA
Last season the Broncos finished 14-11 overall and 9-8 in the West Coast Conference, earning the fourth seed in the conference tournament and advancing to the semifinals for the first time since 2016. They accomplished all of this despite their first eight games on the road and playing the majority of their home games in Santa Cruz, Calif. due to COVID.
The Broncos return top scorers Lindsey VanAllen and Merle Wiehl. Wiehl was named Preseason All-West Coast Conference in a poll of the league's 10 head coaches. Wiehl finished second on the team in scoring a season ago with 11.6 points per game and 5.1 rebounds per game. She knocked down a team-best 45 3-pointers while shooting 44.6-percent from beyond the arc, also tops on the team. She was also led the Broncos in shooting percentage overall with a mark of 52.9-percent.
The Broncos are averaging 70.8 points per game this year while shooting 42.5-percent from the field and 30.9-percent from beyond the arc. Defensively, they have allowed 60.3 ppg while forcing 17.4 turnovers per contest. VanAllen leads the team in scoring with 14.4 ppg. Wiehl leads with 7.8 rpg and scores 12.8 ppg. Ashley Hiraki is scoring 10.0 ppg with a team-best 3.9 apg.
The Broncos are missing some important pieces due to injury right now. VanAllen is out with an ankle injury sustained at Kansas City on December 14. Lexie Pritchard was injured at Long Beach State on November 21. Ashlee Maldonado will miss the season with a torn ACL. All three were projected starters before the season.
#GaelsRise — 2021-22 tickets and ticket packages are on sale now! To purchase tickets, click HERE. If you have questions, contact the ticket office by email smctickets@stmarys-ca.edu or call 925-631-4689…Saint Mary's Basketball…#TogetherAgain
Players Mentioned
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