MORAGA, Calif. – Saint Mary's Women's Basketball is back home with a phenomenal opportunity to take down the top two teams in the conference this week, hosting second-place Portland at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday and No. 16 Gonzaga at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.
 
THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's (10-8, 4-3) vs. Portland (12-6, 6-1)
Thursday, January 19 at 6:30 p.m.
UCU Pavilion – Moraga, Calif.   
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Saint Mary's (10-8, 4-3) vs. Gonzaga (17-2, 7-0)
Saturday, January 21 at 1:00 p.m.
UCU Pavilion – Moraga, Calif.   
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LAST TIME OUT
The Gaels won a nail biter at USF on Saturday afternoon, defeating the Dons 67-63 on their best shooting performance of the season.
 
It was a back-and-forth affair that featured 16 lead changes. A jumper from Leia Hanafin behind a smart, subtle screen from Ali Bamberger to put the Gaels up 61-57 with 3:03 remaining.
 
The Dons would hit a three pointer to cut it to 65-62 with just seven seconds remaining in the fourth. But Taycee Wedin, who would nail a pair of free throws to make it a two-possession game, sealing the win with just two seconds left to play.
 
Bamberger recorded her fifth double-double of the season on a perfect 9 for 9 shooting from the field, including 1 for 1 on threes to go with 11 rebounds. Jade Kirisome also scored in double figures with 10 points, and went 2 for 3 from deep. Wedin had eight points and pulled down a season-high six rebounds, in the same gym where she set her career-high of 11 in last year's season finale. Hanafin narrowly missed a double-double herself, finishing with seven points and nine rebounds.
 
The Gaels finished at 56.8% shooting overall, topping their previous season-high of 53.4% at Cal Baptist, making them 2-0 when they shoot over 50%. After USF went 9 of 15 from the floor in the first quarter, SMC kept them to just 34.9% shooting for the game after limiting them to 24.2% in the second half. Saint Mary's dominated on the boards with 34 rebounds to San Francisco's 19, bringing them to 10-2 when they win the rebounding battle.
 
ABOUT PORTLAND         
Alex Fowler is averaging 17.7 points per contest along with 5.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.6 steals. She one of just six NCAA Division I players to be averaging at least 17.5 points, five rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals against Division I opponents only.

The Townsville, Australia product currently leads the WCC in field-goal percentage (63.3%) and free throws made (19), ranks second in points per game and third in total points (319). Nationally, she is seventh in field-goal percentage and 19^th in free throws made.

This year, she became just the third Pilot ever to reach 800 rebounds for their career and also became the all-time leader for rebounds among Pilots who only played Division I. At 1,880 points, she is just 74 points away from becoming the all-time leading scorer among Pilots who only played Division I.

Portland is 12-6 this season with a 6-1 record in WCC play. They won seven games in a row for the first time since 2009-10 and won their first six conference games for the first time since the 1996-97 season. They are tops in the conference in assists per game (17.6), field-goal percentage (47.1%), free throws made (13.17), steals per game (9.7) and turnovers forced per game (17.89). They are 15^th and 17^th nationally in field-goal percentage and assists per game respectively.

ABOUT GONZAGA
Yvonne Ejim currently leads the Zags in scoring with 16.1 points a game and has recorded three double doubles already this year. She has scored at least 20 points in five games this season, including a career-high 32-point performance against Queens on Dec. 6. With her efforts so far this year, she has been named WCC Player of the Week two times, while she averages 27.9 minutes a game.

Brynna Maxwell has been averaging 14.8 points a game this year while being the best free throw and three-point shooter in the country. Maxwell is currently shooting 98.1 percent from the charity stripe and 54.4 percent from the three-point line to lead the nation in both categories. She has scored in double figures in 16 games so far this year as she has scored a three-pointer in every game. She has also been named WCC Player of the Week twice this season.
 
2022-23 YEARBOOK
The 2022-23 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.