BOISE, Idaho – The Saint Mary's Women's Basketball team will head to the Mountain Time Zone for two games, with head coach Paul Thomas needing just two wins for 300 victories in his career at Saint Mary's.
 
THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's (5-3) at Boise State (3-6)
Saturday, December 10 at 1:00 p.m.
ExtraMile Arena – Boise, Idaho
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THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's (5-3) at Montana State (5-4)
Monday, December 12 at 6:00 p.m.
Worthington Arena – Bozeman, Mont.
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LAST TIME OUT
The Gaels came back from a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter for a 58-53 win over UC Davis.
 
Clair Steele scored a career-high 20 points, with 13 of them coming in the fourth quarter. The true point guard hit a big three and a key layup for the Gaels, but did most of her scoring from the free-throw line (15 of 18) to seal the win for Saint Mary's while also leading the team in assists.
 
Hannah Rapp recorded her first career double-double with another big rebounding night, hauling down a career-high 16 boards to go along with 11 points.
 
The game was tied 40-40 to start the fourth quarter, but the Aggies started the quarter on an 8-0 run. They would lead by as many as nine with just under seven minutes remaining, but the Gaels didn't panic.
 
The Gaels would take the lead with 1:26 remaining on an Amy West sweeping, left-handed layup to make it 53-51 Saint Mary's. From there, SMC's defense would take over, forcing three turnovers in the next three UC Davis possessions 

The win was number 298 for Paul Thomas as the Head Coach of the Gaels. It was the first time this season the Gaels lost the rebounding battle and won, and the first time all season they won the turnover battle, committing just 12 turnovers to UC Davis' 21.
 
ABOUT BOISE STATE
Mya Hansen was named the Mountain West Freshman of the Week on December 5. Hansen is the second Bronco to earn the award this season - Natalie Pasco won the award on Nov. 17. Hansen exploded for 31 points against BYU, shattering her previous career-high of seven points. Hansen shot 8-of-15 from the field and hit 4-of-7 attempts from beyond the arc, and also made all 11 of her free-throw attempts.

Abby Muse surpassed 500 career points against Milwaukee. Muse enters Saturday's game with 523 career points. Muse also eclipsed 100 career blocks on Sunday's game against Colorado. She is one of four Broncos to reach 100 career blocks and the second-fastest to do so.
 
The Gaels are 6-4 all time against the Broncos, with matching 3-2 home and road records against Boise State. The Broncos were just 8-21 last season, but have been very successful under head coach Gordy Presnell. His teams have qualified the NCAA Tournament on six occasions (2007, 2015, 2017-20) and nine times have qualified for the postseason.
 
ABOUT MONTANA STATE
Coming off its 2021-22 Big Sky Conference tournament championship and with four starters returning to its line-up, the Montana State women's basketball team was a unanimous preseason selection to win the league in both the coaches and media polls.
 
The Bobcats, who went 22-13 overall and 14-6 in league play last season, received all nine first-place votes by the Big Sky coaches. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own team. In the media poll, MSU captured 24 of the 26 votes cast by the league's pundits.
 
Montana State returns seniors Darian White and Kola Bad Bear, who dominated the Big Sky Tournament, last March in Boise, Idaho. White was named tournament MVP, while Bad Bear was selected to the all-tournament squad as the tandem guided the Bobcats to its third NCAA Tournament appearance in school history.
 
Other returning starters include Katelynn Limardo and Leia Beattie, who both played major roles leading MSU before a first-round loss in the NCAA tournament to Stanford.
 
Over the past seven seasons, Tricia Binford has led the Bobcats to four regular season or tournament titles, four 20-win campaigns as the program have averaged 20.2 victories per year. 
 
SMC is 1-1 all time against Montana State, but the programs haven't faced each other since playing in back-to-back seasons in 1991 and '92, with each team winning at home.

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.