STOCKTON, Calif. – Saint Mary's Women's Basketball won a thriller in their WCC opener, defeating the Pacific Tigers 69-66 in overtime on Saturday afternoon, giving Head Coach Paul Thomas his 300th win at SMC.
 
SMOOTH FIRST HALF
The Gaels led 29-26 at the half, committing five less turnovers than the Tigers and out rebounding them by four at the break, though they were just 1 for 11 from three-point range.  
 
Pacific would take the lead at 39-37 with 3:10 remaining in the third, before Taycee Wedin reclaimed the lead for Saint Mary's with a three pointer on the next possession. Wedin checked in to the game in the third quarter for her first action in two games after missing time with an injury.
 
The Tigers would take the lead back and extend it to 46-40 with 1:12 to go in the third quarter, But Taycee Wedin would answer with a three again, and SMC was down by just one going into the fourth.
 
TURBULENT FINISH
A 7-0 run by Pacific would start the fourth, putting them up by eight with 7:31 left to play. The Gaels trailed by eight again with 3:53 to go before fighting their way back. Tayla Dalton would hit a three pointer on back-to-back SMC possessions -- with a basket by the Tigers sandwiched in between -- and the Gaels were down by just four with 2:50 left.
 
Another Taycee Wedin three made it just a 61-60 lead for Pacific with 56 seconds to go. The Gaels fouled the Tigers and they only hit one free throw, giving the Gaels a chance to tie or take the lead. Makena Mastora would be fouled hard on the ensuing inbound after a Gaels timeout, and calmly sank both free throws to tie the game at 62-62 with 23.2 seconds remaining.
 
The Tigers tried to hold for the last shot, but the Gaels played perfect, arms-up defense to get the stop and secure the rebound before time expired in regulation.
 
FIFTH QUARTER
Overtime started with another big shot by Mastora, hitting a three from the wing behind a screen from Ali Bamberger. The Gaels center would score herself after a slick feed from Leia Hanafin and put SMC ahead for good with 2:07 remaining in OT.
 
Saint Mary's defense would make two consecutive stops before Taycee Wedin scored on a perfect back-door feed for Hanafin putting the Gaels up 69-66 with 38 seconds left in overtime.
 
But the Gaels couldn't convert on opportunities at the free throw line to put the game away, giving the Tigers life. However, SMC's defense again answered the bell, forcing Pacific into three difficult shots on their final possessions to hang on for the win.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
The Gaels are now 2-0 in overtime games this season. They finished with the exact same number of turnovers (17) as their opponent for the first time this season and again won the rebounding battle, improving to 6-2 when they do.
 
Dalton led all scorers with 18 points on 4 of 11 shooting and 8 of 10 from the free-throw line, and had a team-high five assists. Bamberger finished with 17 points on 8 of 13 shooting, and Mastora finished with 14 points on 4 of 11 shooting as well.
 
Amy West set a new career-high in rebounds with a game-high 12, topping her previous high of 11 versus Bowling Green at the WBI. Hanafin finished second on the team with seven rebounds.   
 
UP NEXT
Saint Mary's will head south to take on the USC Trojans on Wednesday, December 21 at 2:00 p.m.