MORAGA, Calif. – SMC Women's Basketball will host Rice University and the Cal Bears this week at UCU Pavilion.
 
THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's (2-0) vs Rice (2-0)
Wednesday, November 16 at 8:00 p.m.
UCU Pavilion – Moraga, Calif.
WATCH | LIVE STATS |TICKETS
 
THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's (2-0) vs Cal (1-1)
Saturday, November 20 at 2:00 p.m.
UCU Pavilion – Moraga, Calif.
WATCH | LIVE STATS |TICKETS
 
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Gaels improved to 2-0 after an 88-81 road win at Cal Baptist, with another balanced scoring attack, as five players scored in double figures, led by Taycee Wedin's 21 points, defeating a Lancers team that won 23 games last season and were 83-37 over the last four years.
 
The Gaels got to their largest lead of 22 on a step-back three from Wedin with 5:01 left to play, as she finished the night 5 of 13 from deep. Saint Mary's was up by 20 with 2:37 to go, before the Lancers made it a little interesting at the end by taking advantage of some sloppy play by the Gaels before Saint Mary's hung on for the win.
 
SMC was again solid from the free-throw line, shooting 17-20 on the night to finish at 85%. Clair Steele alone was 9 of 10 from the charity stripe as she finished with 11 points. Hannah Rapp scored a career-high 13 points and eight rebounds, and looked very confident on her drives to the lane and pull-up jumpers.
 
Ali Bamberger also finished with 13 points on 5 of 10 shooting with six boards, and Tayla Dalton rounded out the double-figures scoring with 10 points after going 4 of 6 from the field and 2 of 3 from downtown.
 
Makena Mastora and Jade Kirisome each had five assists to lead the Gaels, tying a career high for Kirisome. Saint Mary's finished the night shooting 41% from deep 53.4% from the floor, while holding CBU to 39.1% shooting on the night.
 
ABOUT RICE
Wednesday's game will be SMC's first match up with Rice University of Conference USA since 1992 on November 16. The Gaels won that lone meeting 85-79 in overtime in Moraga.
 
After starting the 2021-22 conference season 0-5 and playing with a short bench, the Owls were one of the hottest teams in the conference down the stretch, winning six of the last seven to close the regular season. They advanced to the second round of the C-USA tournament and took top-seeded Charlotte to the wire before seeing their run end with a 59-53 loss. 
 
Senior forward Ashlee Austin was named to the Conference USA Women's Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team after she earned second-team, all-conference honors as a junior. She was the only player in C-USA to rank in the top 13 in points per game, field goal percentage, free throws made, and free throw percentage. She ranked fourth in the conference in field goal percentage (46.3) and fifth in scoring with 16.5 points per game as well as free throws made (122). 
 
She established career bests in nearly every statistical category and scored in double figures in 22 of 27 games, highlighted by a pair of 30-point efforts against Sam Houston & Charlotte. Austin averaged 18.7 points over the final nine games of the season in which the Owls were 7-2 to end Lindsay Edmonds' first year at the helm with a 14-13 record.
 
Rice was picked to finish fourth behind Middle Tennessee, LA Tech, and Charlotte in the voting by league coaches for this season.
 
ABOUT CAL
Saint Mary's will host the Cal Bears for the first time since 2018 in a game that went to OT as well at then McKeon Pavilion. The Gaels are 6-18 all time against the Bears, in a series that's featured streaks by each team, including a five-game win streak for SMC from 1995-2002.
 
Jayda Curry was named to the Naismith Trophy Women's Watch List, which represents the top 50 players in the country. She was also named to this season's Pac-12 Preseason All-Conference team, after a historic 2021-22 season in which she became the first freshman in Pac-12 history to lead the conference in scoring (18.6 points per game) and to open the season with three consecutive conference Freshman of the Week honors.
 
Curry concluded the season earning the media Freshman of the Year honor, an All-Pac-12 honorable mention and a spot on the Pac-12 All-Freshman team. Nationally, she led all freshmen in 3-point field goals made per game (2.2) while ranking second in scoring and total free throws made (111).
 
Last season, Cal did a great job of taking care of the ball, ranking 12th in the country (348 teams ranked) in fewest turnovers with 364, which also led the Pac-12. The Bears also made good use of their free throw attempts ranking 11th in the country (348 teams ranked) in free-throw percentage at 78.5 percent, which also led the Pac-12. 
 
2022-23 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.
 
#GaelsRise — 2022-23 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.