PORTLAND, Ore. – Saint Mary's Women's Basketball had a strong first half against Portland on Thursday night, before the Pilots flipped the script in the second half leading to a 77-66 loss for the Gaels.
 
SMC came out strong with a 15-3 run in first quarter, and kept Portland scoreless for four-and-a-half minutes on their way to a 23-16 lead after a quarter of play. Saint Mary's was up 18-8 with 3:39 to go in the first, before the Pilots took advantage of four-straight Gaels turnovers, leading to an 8-0 run by Portland that cut it to two.
 
But the Gaels got their lead back up to seven after a Leia Hanafin layup and buzzer-beating three pointer by Clair Steele from way deep secured the seven-point lead after a quarter.
 
A Jade Kirisome jumpshot would give the Gaels a 10-point lead again at 38-28 with 3:47 to go in the first half, and a Taycee Wedin jumper inside would send Saint Mary's to the locker room up 42-34.
 
But as soon as the second half started, fouls, turnovers, and Portland's perimiter defense leading to offense erased the Gaels' eight-point lead. A 7-0 run by Portland put Pilots ahead 45-44 on a pair of free throws.
 
However, a Leia Hanafin step-back jumper put SMC back on top by one and an Ali Bamberger layup had Saint Mary's back up 51-48 with just under four minutes to go in the third. The teams would trade baskets for the rest of the fourth, before Portland would hit their own buzzer-beating three to go up 59-55 as the quarter ended.
 
The fourth quarter would be a struggle for Saint Mary's, with two different three-minute scoring droughts. Several Gaels found themselves in foul trouble, including Ali Bamberger who would foul out in the fourth quarter, as did Aspen Garrison.
 
Taycee Wedin had four fouls, which would take her out of the rhythm she had going in the first half, when she was 4 of 5 from three-point range. A Wedin layup would get the Gaels within five points at 67-62 with 4:40 remaining, but that is as close as they would get in the fourth. The Pilots would get their lead up to 11 with just under two minutes left, and never let the Gaels cut it back to single digits.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Taycee Wedin would led the Gaels with 17 points on 6 of 13 shooting and 5 of 9 from deep, giving her 394 career threes made.
 
Hannah Rapp would also finish in double figures scoring with 10 points and led the team in rebounds with six.
 
UP NEXT
The Gaels will take on first-place Gonzaga on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. in Spokane, Wash.