MORAGA, Calif. – Saint Mary's Women's Basketball had a nice bounce back game at home on Sunday, but the Cal Bears slipped past the Gaels in a 69-66 loss for SMC.

THIN MARGINS
The Gaels led from the final minute of the first quarter to the final minute-and-a-half of the game, before the Bears hit some clutch shots late to get the win. SMC shot one percent better than Cal from the field, were 6 of 10 from three compared to the Bears' 4 for 15, were only out rebounded by one, and committed just four more turnovers than Cal.
 
The tiniest of margins made the difference in the game, with Cal winning just the fourth quarter on the afternoon, 20-13. In the fourth, Cal shot 42.9% to SMC's 36.4% and were 6 of 7 from the free-throw line to the Gaels' 4 of 6.
 
Saint Mary's led by as many as eight on a Hannah Rapp layup with 6:35 in the first half and again on a pair of free throws by Clair Steele with exactly six minutes left in the half.
 
They'd match that lead again with 4:25 to go in the third on a Taycee Wedin three pointer, and were up by four going into the fourth. Cal trimmed it to a one-point lead two minutes into the fourth, before SMC pushed it back up to six and a Makena Mastora three from the top of the key.
 
BEAR ESCAPE
The Bears would tie it at 60-60 with 4:13 left to play, but an Ali Bamberger layup put Saint Mary's back ahead on the next possession, and she'd hit a pair of free throws on the following possession to extend the Gaels' lead back to four.
 
But Cal would take the lead with just under a minute-and-a-half to go on a basket in the paint to make it 67-66 Bears off of a Gaels' missed shot. Saint Mary's would have a chance to tie or take the lead on a pair of free throws by Ali Bamberger with four seconds left, but she was unable to convert on both attempts.
 
Cal would hit a pair of free throws and keep the Gaels from getting a shot off before the final buzzer to seal the three-point win.
 
TOP PERFORMERS
Bamberger racked up another 24 points on 9 of 19 shooting and led the team with seven rebounds, while Wedin had 17 points for the second-straight game, and finished 3 for 4 from downtown.
 
Mastora had her second-straight, double-digit scoring game with 10-points on 4 of 6 shooting and 2 of 3 from three-point range. Clair Steele led the Gaels in assists with five.
 
UP NEXT:
The Gaels will host their first game of the SMC Thanksgiving Classic, when they take on Niagara on Friday, November 25 at 2:00 p.m.