WBB | Regular Season Concludes with Loss at Pacific

Saturday, February 27

Stockton, CA

2:00 pm

Saint Mary's College of California

6-18,4-14WCC

Pacific

11-10,9-9WCC

Saint Mary's (CA)

Pacific

Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner

WBB | Regular Season Concludes with Loss at Pacific

2/27/2021 5:28:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

STOCKTON, Calif. — With one final tune-up before the WCC Tournament next week in Las Vegas, Saint Mary's wrapped up the regular season with a road game at Pacific. After starting the conference slate back in December against the Tigers, it seemed fitting that these two teams met up to end the regular season, this time on the Tigers' home floor. The Gaels improved in the second half, but they could not claw back from an early deficit and fell victim to the Tigers by a final of 73-54. Saint Mary's ends the regular season with a record of 6-18 (4-14) while Pacific finishes above .500 with a mark of 11-10 (9-9).

SECOND HALF ADJUSTMENTS
After falling behind in the first half, the Gaels came out a better team after the intermission. Saint Mary's outscored the Tigers in both the third and fourth quarters, putting up a total of 36 points in the final 20 minutes. This was spurred by a better shooting performance, which saw the Gaels shoot at 53.8% in the third quarter, and nearly 45% in the entire second half. The three-point shot was also falling more frequently for SMC after hitting just one in the first half, as Saint Mary's knocked down five triples in the second half.

POINTS IN THE PAINT
An area where Saint Mary's struggled on Saturday afternoon was in the paint, where they allowed the Tigers to score 44 points, compared to just 24 for Saint Mary's. A lot of that had to do with the strong play of Valerie Higgins for Pacific, who lit up the scoreboard for 19 points on 7-8 shooting, 14 rebounds, six steals, five assists, and a block. It was one of her best games of a season for an individual who will surely be on the all-conference team. While the Gaels did not have answers for her, Ellie Croco was strong down low for the Gaels, leading the team with 12 points overall while pacing the Gaels with six boards.

UPPING THE DEFENSE
Part of the stronger second half for the Gaels was their defensive efforts, which limited the Tigers to 37% shooting in the second half and just 1-9 from distance. A force on defense all afternoon long was Tayla Dalton, who set a career-best with five steals, part of a ten-steal effort from the Gaels on defense. Croco added two while Taycee Wedin, Madeline Holland, and Brianna Simonich all had steals.

UP NEXT
The WCC Tournament is scheduled for next week, beginning on Thursday inside The Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. Final seeding will be determined overnight, with the Gaels entering the afternoon as the eighth seed. If the Gaels do play on Thursday, they will be in one of the first two matches of the tournament, at either 11:00 am or 2:00 pm.

#GaelsRise