SAN FRANCISCO — Heading across the Bay for a Thursday night road game against the San Francisco Dons, the Gaels were looking to get back to their winning ways following a two-game skid. After both teams came out of the gates cold offensively, the Dons caught fire in the second quarter and never looked back en route to a 78-51 win over the Gaels. With the win, the Dons have now won five straight games in WCC play to improve to 10-8 (6-6) and SMC falls to 5-13 (3-9).
 
SECOND QUARTER SKID
After both teams struggled to shoot the basketball with much success in the first quarter, San Francisco caught fire in the second quarter, scoring an impressive 32 points. Part of their success was their ability to shoot the three-ball, going 7-10 from beyond the arc, with four of those makes from reigning WCC Player of the Week Ioanna Krimili. Saint Mary's did not have a poor quarter shooting the basketball themselves, shooting at 50% on the dot, but no one was able to catch fire like Krimili. Madeline Holland and Brianna Simonich each made two shots for Saint Mary's during the second quarter.
 
THEIR OWN EXPLOSION
Saint Mary's came out of the timeout with some offensive strength of their own, fueled by Ellie Croco. The Gaels outscored the Dons in the third and Croco scored 12 of the team's 18 points. Her best quarter of the season came in the form of 4-5 from the floor, including nailing a three, and hitting three shots from the free throw line. It was an otherwise quiet night for Croco, who scored just two points the remainder of the game, and grabbed all six of her rebounds in the first half.
 
PRODUCTION FROM ALL LEVELS
While the Gaels might only be able to play nine healthy on a nightly basis at the moment, they did receive contributions from all levels of their roster. Croco and Holland were both in double-figures, while every other Gael that played found a way to score points. Brianna Simonich scored eight points and hauled in eight rebounds, while Hannah Rapp scored the first bucket of her collegiate career after hitting three free throws against Gonzaga for her first collegiate points.
 
UP NEXT
Saint Mary's will stay in the Bay and head down the Peninsula to Santa Clara, where they will meet the Broncos on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 pm. Santa Clara, despite only playing one game at home this season, find themselves in third place in the conference standings after using stellar defensive play all season.