MORAGA, Calif. – Ali Bamberger scored her 1,000th point as a Gael in the third quarter of Monday night's 83-67 victory over Cal State East Bay, which made her and her father, Eric Bamberger, the only father-daughter duo to score 1,000 points at the same school in NCAA D1 history.
 
Bamberger scored her 1,001st point with just over two-and-a-half minutes to go in the third quarter, the way she has scored the majority of her baskets in her career, on a layup in the paint.
 
Brad Sellers' 1,960 points at Wisconsin and Ohio State and his daughter Shayla Sellers' 1,030 points and counting at Purdue Fort Wayne are the only other D1 father-daughter combo with 1,000 points scored.
 
Counting Bamberger's 106 points from her freshman season at the University of Washington, she crossed 1,000 career points overall in the second game of this season. That made her and her father just the second father-daughter tandem in NCAA Division-I history to score 1,000 points in their career, as Eric scored 1,225 points at Saint Mary's playing from 1989-92.
 
EAST BAY BATTLE
The record-breaking basket by Bamberger put SMC up by eight points at 56-48, and she would score on the Gaels next possession to make it a 10 point-game, after a very plucky East Bay team battled back from the 14-point lead the Gaels built in the second quarter.
 
The 2023-24 Gaels are still trying to find their identity and the right parts around Bamberger under new Head Coach Jeff Cammon, and were coming off of their worst defeat of the season to undefeated Washington.
 
So, the expectation of blowing out the feisty Pioneers right away may have been Gaels fans wanted to see right away, but Saint Mary's needed this game to "get their swing back" like a major leaguer on assignment in the minors.
 
Saint Mary's led just 22-20 after a quarter of play, but got their first double-digit lead of the game by executing some "Cammon Ball." The pressure defense of the Gaels forced Pioneer turnovers and led to two-straight fast break layups for Makena Mastora to get the 10-point margin.
 
It was the third-straight possession that Mastora scored on a layup for SMC on her way to a career-high 26 points. Another fast break after a stop led to Saint Mary's going up by 14 on a Zeryhia Aokuso pull-up jumper to make it 38-24 Gaels with 3:21 to go in the half.
 
FINISHING TOUCH
Saint Mary's led by nine at the half, but CSU East Bay trimmed it down to five at 49-44 with 4:19 to go in the third. A deep two from Aokuso and a three from Ruby Vlahov got the lead up to eight before the historic basket from Bamberger.
 
They would again finish the quarter up by nine, and would pull away from the Pioneers in the fourth. A three-point play the old-fashioned way from Vlahov put SMC up by 12 and a Bamberger three pointer put Saint Mary's ahead 68-53 with 8:15 to go.
 
Bamberger would score seven points in the fourth quarter alone, as the Gaels shot 6 of 12 from the field in the final frame to just 3 of 13 by the Pioneers. SMC went 8 of 9 at the free-throw line as well in the fourth to help put the game away. A pair of Emily Foy free throws gave the Gaels their largest lead of the night in fact at 83-65 with just 16 seconds left to play.
 
Saint Mary's would win the second and fourth quarters by seven points, closing out each half strong.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Mastora not only finished with a game and career-high 26 points on 10 of 15 shooting, but tied the game high in steals with three. Bamberger finished with 19 points, and tied for a team-high six rebounds with Addison Wedin and a team-high five assists with Maia Jones.
 
The Gaels forced 20 turnovers to 14 of their own, and shot 56.7% from the floor to 41.1% for the Pioneers.
 
UP NEXT
SMC will head to the Mountain Time Zone to take on the University of Denver on Thursday, December 21 at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time.

#GaelsRise — 2023-24 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.