MORAGA, Calif. – Saint Mary's Women's Basketball finished strong against the University of San Diego on Saturday night, closing out a 67-59 victory over the Toreros to move to 1-1 in WCC play.
 
The Gaels were 12 of 22 (54.5%) from the floor in the second half while holding USD to just 26.9% shooting, all while out rebounding the Toreros 22-14 over the final two quarters.
 
It was San Diego who started the game shooting 54.5% in the first quarter, and they led 15-13 after the opening period. Things began to even out in the second quarter, but USD was up 31-27 at halftime.
 
Early in the third, however, Zeryhia Aokuso would take over and spark dominant quarter for SMC. Her array of pull-up and turnaround jumpers couldn't be stopped, and her drives to the lane led to points in one way or another, as she went 9 of 10 from the free-throw line in the game.
 
Aokuso would tie the game in the third quarter and Tayla Dalton would put the Gaels ahead for good with a bucket in the paint with 3:22 to go in the third at 41-40. An Ali Bamberger layup put Saint Mary's up 50-43 to end the third to wrap up a quarter the Gaels won 23-12.
 


A Leia Hanafin pull-up jumper gave SMC their first double-digit lead of the night at 57-45 with 5:41 left to play, but USD wouldn't go quietly, cutting the Gaels lead to six at 62-56 with just over a minute to go.
 
It was a seven-point game with just over 30 seconds left to play, but Hanafin would force a turnover and hit one of two free throws to put it back to eight at 66-58. The Saint Mary's defense would force San Diego to miss their next two three-point attempts and Bamberger would hit another free throw to seal the win for SMC.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Aokuso would lead all scorers with a career-high 19 points on 5 of 9 shooting along with her 90% at the free-throw line. Bamberger finished with 16 points and was 2 of 3 from downtown.
 
Addison Wedin also scored in double figures with 10 points and grabbed five boards, while Hannah Rapp led the team in rebounds with six.
 
The Gaels were 7 of 15 from three-point range on the night, with five different players hitting a three. SMC dominated the second chance points 19-9 and in bench scoring with a 29-5 advantage.
 
UP NEXT
Saint Mary's will host LMU on Saturday, January 13 at 5:00 p.m. in UCU Pavilion.
 
#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.