LAS VEGAS — After upsetting sixth-seeded Pacific on Friday afternoon, Saint Mary's Women's Basketball earned the right to compete in the quarterfinals of the 2021 UCU WCC Basketball Tournament. Their opponent this time around: third-seeded San Francisco, fresh off a stellar regular-season and featuring the Newcomer of the Year in the WCC. Saint Mary's came close to pulling off the upset, but fell just short in a 69-63 defeat at the hands of the Dons. Saint Mary's ends its season with a record of 7-19.
 
STARTING SLOW
As was the case in their last matchup, Saint Mary's came out of the gates slow against the Dons, putting up just ten points in the opening quarter and allowing 20. What was more troubling was the lack of three-point shots that the Gaels were hitting, going 0-5 from distance. The one constant that was encouraging in the first quarter, and remained that way throughout: the Gaels did a great job on Ioanna Krimili, holding her to just three points in the first quarter and only 13 for the game.
 
WE GOT A GAME
Down by ten early in the second quarter, the Gaels rallied back and were able to tie the game just before halftime, going on a 19-9 run to pull even with just under two minutes remaining in the half. A host of players started hitting shots and getting to the line for Saint Mary's, but it was Madeline Holland who got it started with a three-pointer to cut the Dons lead to just five. Pulling even with 1:53 left did not last for long, as the Dons hit the final two shots of the quarter, including a Lucija Kostic shot at the buzzer to give the Dons a four-point halftime lead.
 
NAILBITER
Both teams started trading blows in the third quarter, resulting in a back-and-forth affair that was awfully thrilling to watch. Saint Mary's got down by six but then came roaring back with an Amy West layup, a three-pointer from Jade Kirisome, and then a jump shot from Holland that put SMC up 40-39 with 3:40 left in the third. Saint Mary's again led as late as 6:26 remaining in the game on another Holland shot, but the Dons closed out strong, going on a 14-2 run to essentially end all hope at another Gaels upset.
 
AMONG OTHER NUMBERS
Kirisome and Holland led all Saint Mary's scorer's with 13, while Kirisome was able to do so with a pair of three-pointers…Saint Mary's only made five shots from beyond the arc, but held a sharp-shooting Dons team to just six made threes…West added 12 points, while Taycee Wedin rounded out the double-digit scorers with ten…after a strong defensive performance for three quarters, SMC allowed USF to shoot at a 69.2% clip in the fourth quarter, immediately following a third quarter where USF shot 29.4%.