MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary's Women's Basketball will have one more stretch of three games in five days this week, including their final "makeup Monday" of the season. The Gaels will travel to take on Gonzaga on Thursday, before hosting San Diego on Saturday and Portland on Monday for a rescheduling of the January 8 match up with the Pilots that was postponed.
 
Saturday will be "Paint Moraga Red Day" as early-arriving students will receive red Gaels t-shirts, and Monday Saint Mary's will give out Gael Gnomes to the first 500 fans courtesy of Common Interest Management Services.
 
Senior Taycee Wedin continues to rocket up the WCC's career three-point record of 298, as she now has 283 career three pointers.
 
THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's (12-12, 6-7) vs Gonzaga (20-5, 11-1)
Thursday, February 17 at 6:00 p.m.
McCarthey Athletic Center – Spokane, Wash.
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Saint Mary's (12-12, 6-7) vs San Diego (13-12, 5-8)
Saturday, February 19 at 1:00 p.m. 
UCU Pavilion - Moraga, Calif.
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Saint Mary's (12-12, 6-7) vs Portland (16-6, 6-4)
Monday, February 21 at 2:00 p.m. 
UCU Pavilion - Moraga, Calif.
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LAST TIME OUT
The Gaels gave the No. 20 BYU Cougars all they could handle last Saturday afternoon at UCU Pavilion, keeping the Cougars from gaining any separation until the final three minutes of the game in BYU's 84-69 victory over the Gaels.
 
Saint Mary's led 23-16 at the end of the first quarter and 42-40 at the half. They trailed by just three going into the fourth quarter, and it wasn't until the final few minutes that BYU gained a double-digit lead taking advantage of 10 Gaels turnovers in the fourth quarter.
  
BYU got their offense going in the second quarter by shooting 55.6%, and though the Gaels shot 77.8% in the period, the volume of shots that was quite different, as the Cougars were 10 of 18 to the Gaels 7 of 9. SMC was 3 of 5 from deep, but BYU scored 11 points off turnovers compared to just four off takeaways for the Gaels. But after a BYU went on an 11-0 run to finish the game and win 84-69.
 
Bamberger narrowly missed her eighth double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds. Holland and Dalton each had 13 points, with Holland adding seven rebounds. Wedin hit two more three pointers, giving her 283 in her career as she extends the Saint Mary's career record and closes in on the WCC record of 298.
 
The Gaels shot 53.1% overall and 39% from three-point range to the Cougars 50.7% and just 25% from three. But BYU had 71 shots to SMC's 39 spurred on by the Cougars winning the turnover battle 28-10, even though the Gaels had a 34-26 rebounding advantage.
 
2021-22 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.
 
ABOUT GONZAGA
The Gaels home game against the Zags was similar to their home contest with fellow 20-game winner BYU. It took until the final quarter for Gonzaga to get a double-digit lead after Saint Mary's trailed by just one point at the half and by just three after three quarters. The Bulldogs shot 10 percent better from three-point range and won the rebounding battle by 12 in a game that was pretty evenly matched otherwise, including in turnovers.
 
Kaylynne Truong is currently leading the Zags in scoring with 11.2 a game as her sister, Kayleigh Truong, is right behind her with 11 points a game. Melody Kempton is averaging a team-high 6.4 rebounds as she just eclipsed 500 career rebounds last game. Yvonne Ejim is leading the team in blocks (34) and steals (37) so far this season.
 
The Zags are averaging 40.3 rebounds a game and a 10.1 rebound margin, which ranks eighth in the nation and first in the WCC.
 
Cierra Walker is ranked 26th in the country and first in the WCC in three-point field-goal percentage as she has averaged 42.1 percent this year. Melody Kempton is currently ranked second in the conference in field-goal percentage at 53.9
 
ABOUT SAN DIEGO
Sydney Hunter was the recipient of the WCC Player of the Week award this week. It's Hunter's first WCC Player of the Week award during her time at San Diego and the first time a Torero has won this award since 2015. 

Hunter scored more than 21 points across three consecutive games the week of February 7 through February 13 and recorded two double-doubles. She led her team out of an eight-game losing streak and sparked some momentum for the team which is now riding a three-game winning streak. 
 
The Gaels are 52-22 all time against the Toreros, including a 79-71 win in San Diego on January 20.
 
ABOUT PORTLAND
Last season Portland finished 14-13 on the year, and 9-8 in conference play, dropping their first game in the West Coast Conference Tournament to LMU. The Pilots returned their two leaders Haylee Andrews and Alex Fowler, both named to WCC preseason All-Conference team. 
 
Maisie Burnham has led the Pilots in scoring in each of the last three games, averaging 15.7 points and four rebounds over that span. Burnham has been the top scorer off the bench for Portland, averaging 7.9 points per game. She's scored in double digits seven times this season.

Fowler is first in the WCC in field-goal percentage (56.7%), and is fourth in points (17.5) and rebounds per game (7.5).

The Gaels are 47-26 all time against the Pilots, but Portland has won the last five meetings, including a 73-63 defeat of the Gaels on February 10. Lucy Cochrane racked up the blocks against Saint Mary's with eight, as SMC may use their mid-range game more in the rematch.
 
It was the sixth time Cochrane's had at least five blocks in a game this year. She leads the nation in blocks per game (3.7) and ranks third in total blocks (74). Her 74 blocks are the second most from any Pilot at the DI level over the course of a season.

Going back to 2000, she is the only Pilot to put up at least five blocks three games in a row and is the only Pilot in the 2000s to have five blocks in five different games.
  
#GaelsRise — 2021-22 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…Saint Mary's Basketball…#TogetherAgain
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