LEXINGTON, Ky. – Saint Mary's Women's Basketball made a furious comeback in the second quarter against Austin Peay for a 77-69 win in round one of the Women's Basketball Invitational on Friday. The win puts the Gaels in the semifinals against Bowling Green University on Saturday at 11:30 a.m.
SMC found themselves down by 12 with six-and-a-half minutes remaining in the second quarter before catching fire. The spark plug,
Tayla Dalton, hit a three pointer to begin the run. Fellow Kiwi
Amy West then hit a hook shot in the paint to cut it to seven, with
Taycee Wedin assisting on both baskets.
Leia Hanafin hit a pair of jumpers in the paint with a three from
Makena Mastora in between and the Gaels had tied the game at 32-32 with 3:49 to go in the first half. The Gaels were far from done, as
Ellie Croco put Saint Mary's ahead and they would finish the half on a 25-3 run with Hanafin hitting a three and Wedin hitting a pair to lead 45-35 at the break. Saint Mary's finished the half 7 of 9 from threes and outscored the Governors 30-13 in the second quarter.
SMC extended their lead up to 14 on two occasions with the latter one coming on an
Aspen Garrison basket in the paint. But the Gaels would hit a bit of a cold snap as the Governors got hot and Austin Peay cut the Saint Mary's lead down to two at 56-54 with 2:07 to go in the third. The Gaels got baskets from
Madeline Holland and Croco to put them back up 60-54 to end the quarter.
The see-saw affair continued in the fourth as Holland put the Gaels up by 12 with 5:12 to go in the game, only to see the Governors cut it to one with two minutes remaining at 70-69. But the senior Holland would not let Austin Peay take the lead. She grabbed an offensive rebound and scored in the paint to stop the Governors run and make it a two-possession game again with a free throw after the basket.
Holland would score the Gaels next basket after Wedin forced a turnover and Wedin would hit a pair of free throws seal the eight-point win for Saint Mary's.
TOP PERFORMERS
Wedin led the Gaels with 19 points and tied Hanafin for the team lead in assists with five. Holland kept her senior season going with 17 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Garrison rounded out the Gaels scorers in double figures with 11 points.
Saint Mary's shot 57% from the field and were 8 of 11 from downtown, while holding Austin Peay to 46% shooting and 7 of 19 from deep.
UP NEXT
The Gaels will take on fellow 16-15 team Bowling Green, who defeated Furman 82-61, on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. PDT.
