MORAGA, Calif. — In the penultimate home game of the 2020-21 regular season, Saint Mary's Women's Basketball found that home cooking tasted pretty good. While the Gaels offense was hot, the San Diego Toreros found their flavor away from home, matching the Gaels shot-for-shot and using just enough offense to squeak by with an 82-73 win. San Diego has now won five straight and sits at 10-4 (7-2 WCC) while the Gaels have now lost five straight and stand at 5-15 (3-11 WCC).
 
BOMBS AWAY FOR BOESEL
Few players in the WCC have gotten as hot as Jordyn Boesel was in the first half on Thursday night. With the Gaels short-handed, Boesel received the first start in her Saint Mary's career, coming in game number 68. She made good on that from the onset, knocking down three shots from beyond the arc in the first quarter alone. Two more three-pointers fell for Boesel in the first half, and she scored a career-best 17 points, all in the first half on 6-6 from the floor and a career-best 5-5 from downtown. Despite Saint Mary's turning the ball over frequently in the first half, it was Boesel's shooting that kept SMC within six at the break.
 
200 TRIPLES FOR TAYCEE
After Madeline Holland joined the 1,000-point club recently, Taycee Wedin joined an even more exclusive club in SMC lore. With her sixth three-pointer of the game coming on the Gaels final possession, Wedin launched her 200^th three-pointer made in her historic career. Only Jontelle Smith has made more at 268, a mark that is well within reach as Wedin reaches the end of her junior season. The six ties a season and career-best, and she was just two points shy of a career-best, scoring 22 to lead the Gaels on Thursday night. She and Boesel combined to go 11-16 from downtown, and the Gaels made 14 threes overall, a season best.
 
KEEPING STREAKS ALIVE
Holland was able to hit a pair of free throws near the end of the game to reach ten points on the night, with a tidy 4-6 shooting. This represents the eighth-consecutive game that Holland has scored ten or more points, the second-longest streak of her career (nine games last season). Holland also filled up the stat sheet well with five rebounds, two assists, and a steal.
 
AMONG OTHER NUMBERS
Brianna Simonich had one of her most even nights of the season, scoring 11 points on 4-6 from the floor, grabbing nine rebounds to lead Saint Mary's, and also tying a career-best with six assists…Saint Mary's shot the basketball at a 54% clip Thursday night, their best mark of the season…despite shooting well, the Gaels turned the basketball over 25 times (compared to just eight for San Diego), leading to a 32-7 points-off-turnover discrepancy and a 21-3 fast-break point difference.
 
UP NEXT
The Gaels will play their final home game of the season on Saturday afternoon with a noon start time against BYU. Saint Mary's will honor their four seniors (Holland, Boesel, Simonich, and Emily Codding) with a pregame ceremony before tip-off. The Gaels will spend their final three games of the regular season on the road.