MORAGA, Calif. – Saint Mary's Women's Basketball clashed with the BYU Cougars for the final time in the regular season as WCC foes, and though the Gaels had a big run in the third, BYU eventually pulled away for a 74-59 win.
 
It was a tight first quarter, with the score tied 12-12 on a Leia Hanafin three pointer with 2:33 to go in the first. BYU would close out the first 10 minutes on a 7-0 run, but the Gaels wouldn't allow the Cougars to extend the lead to double digits until the final three minutes of the half.
 
Though Saint Mary's trailed 35-21 after the first half, they stormed out of the gate to start the third quarter. The Gaels started the half on a 9-0 run capped off by a Taycee Wedin three pointer that cut the deficit to 35-30 just three minutes into the third.
 
But BYU wouldn't let SMC get any closer, extending their lead back to double digits and finishing the quarter up 57-39. The Gaels trimmed the Cougars lead to 12 with 4:40 left to play and again with 2:15 to go, but BYU would thwart Saint Mary's attempts to cut it closer even though the Gaels won the quarter 20-17.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Aspen Garrison scored a career-high 15 points on 7 of 11 shooting, and tied her career high in blocked shots with three.
 
Hannah Rapp had a career-high five assists and Amy West led the team with six rebounds.
 
The Gaels shot well overall at 45.3% (25 of 53) to the Cougars 44.3% (27 of 61), but did commit six more turnovers and were outrebounded 38-30.
 
The teams were evenly matched in three-point shooting as well, with BYU have a slight advantage going 9 of 19 from downtown to SMC's 7 of 15. The Cougars had the advantage in volume at the free-throw line as well, going 11 of 16 from the charity stripe to the Gaels' 4 of 9.
 
UP NEXT
Saint Mary's will host San Diego this Saturday at 5:00 p.m. and expect to have leading scorer Ali Bamberger available to play after suffering a knee sprain against Portland.
 
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