MORAGA, Calif. – Saint Mary's Women's Basketball held on for an 61-58 win in overtime against UC San Diego in their home opener on Sunday afternoon to get their first win of the season. It was Head Coach Jeff Cammon's first win at Saint Mary's and it included Ali Bamberger crossing the 1,000-point mark in her career.
 
The first quarter was a tight, defensive battle with each team shooting just 33% from the field in the opening frame. SMC trailed by one after the first, but built a lead in the second quarter after shooting 58% and went into the half leading by five.
 
The Gaels would extend their lead to as many as 13 after a Maia Jones layup that came off a defensive stop by Saint Mary's. They went into the fourth leading 40-30 after keeping UCSD to just five points on 1 of 17 shooting in the third quarter.
 
BENT BUT DIDN'T BREAK
But the fourth quarter was reminiscent of the final stanza that got away from them in the opener at Grand Canyon. The Tritons went on a 9-0 run while keeping the Gaels' offense quiet to tie the game at 42 apiece with 6:10 left to play.
 
The teams traded free throws for the next four-plus minutes, and UC San Diego would go up by two on a layup with 1:37 remaining. UCSD would take a two-point lead on a pair of free throws with 30 seconds to go, but the Gaels would go to their "Z factor" in freshman Zaryhia Aokuso. The Amarillo, Texas native led the team in scoring with 17 points in the season opener, but ran into foul trouble against the Tritons.
 
Saint Mary's was still able to go her though in the final minutes and have Aokuso attack in isolation. She would hit a game-tying bucket on a turnaround jumper in the paint with 24 seconds left, and came up just short on a fade-away attempt on the baseline as time expired, sending the game to overtime.
 
The Tritons scored first in overtime, but Aokuso couldn't be stopped in the extra frame, scoring nine of the Gaels 10 points in O.T.  She converted a three-point play after a drive to the basket to break the final tie of the contest and put SMC up 58-55.
 
Bamberger had a huge basket in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 49-49 with 38 seconds left, and would sink to clutch free throws with 6.7 seconds left to put the Gaels up 61-55 to seal the win for Saint Mary's.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Bamberger entered the game at 999 career points with 106 points scored as a Washington Husky and 893 at Saint Mary's. She finished the night 6 of 13 from the field, and tied for the team high in rebounds with freshman Emily Foy with eight.
 
Aokuso scored 11 points in just eight minutes played on 5 of 8 shooting. Hannah Rapp was second on the team in scoring with 13 points on a career high 3 of 4 from three-point range. The contest featured nine lead changes and ten ties.
 
UP NEXT
The Gaels will host UC Irvine on Tuesday, November 14 at 6:30 p.m.
 
Tickets for the 2023-24 Saint Mary's Women's Basketball season can be purchased by clicking here.
 
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