MORAGA, Calif. - The Saint Mary's women's basketball team will kickoff their 2024-25 season with a Bay Area showdown against Cal on Monday night. The Gaels will enter Haas Pavilion with some familiar faces on the coaching staff as head coach
Jeff Cammon was a member of the Bears staff from 2014-2016 and first year assistant
Brittany Boyd-Jones was a two-time All-American and a four year star for the Bears from 2011-2015. Saint Mary's will look for their first win over Cal since 2016 with a talented new squad featuring ten newcomers and seven transfers.
GAME INFORMATION AND COVERAGE
GAELS OUTLOOK
Saint Mary's head coach
Jeff Cammon returns for his second season and looks to make positive strides this year with ten newcomers and seven transfers. The Gaels were 13-18 overall in 2024 and finished conference play with a 6-10 record good for 6th place. They would fall to LMU in the first round of the conference tournament but will look to make it out of the first round for the first time since the 2022-23 season and the first under
Jeff Cammon.
Notable returners for the Gaels include All-WCC selections in
Zeryhia Aokuso and
Maia Jones. Aokuso put together a stellar freshman campaign averaging 12.1 points and 3.5 rebounds to earn WCC Freshman of the Year. She would be the program's first Freshman of the Year award winner since 2001 and the fourth in program history.
Maia Jones was also named to the All-Freshman Team, playing in 29 games and averaging seven points per game.
Cammon has made it clear he wants his basketball team to play with pace and defensive efficiency and he brought in some notable names to help build that identity.
Kennedy Johnson transfers in from the University of Idaho after being named to the Big Sky First Team last season where she averaged a career high 14 points and seven rebounds.
Jada Hunter will make her collegiate debut after transferring from Laney College where she was named the California State Player of the Year, averaging 18 points and nine rebounds per game. She will have the opportunity to learn and grow under Aokuso to create a talented backcourt for the Gaels.
Another notable headline on opening night for the Gaels involves first year assistant coach
Brittany Boyd-Jones who will return to Haas Pavilion where she was a program All-American for the Bears, playing from 2011-2015. Jones went on to be drafted 9th overall to the New York Liberty and was named to the WNBA All-Rookie team in 2015. After two years at Cal State East Bay, Jones reunites with Cammon and joins the staff for the 2024-25 season.
ABOUT CAL (ACC)
Cal embarks on their 2024-25 campaign after recording 19 wins last year, most wins in a season since 2019 when they finished 20-13 and made the NCAA Tournament. As a result, the Bears played in the women's NIT and defeated Hawaii 65-60 in the first round. Cal is led by head coach Charmin Smith who enters her fifth season at the helm after becoming the program's first Black Head Coach in 2019. She has been an influential leader throughout Cal athletics and will look to lead the Bears back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019.
Despite the recent success, this year will pose new challenges for Cal as they welcome nine new players including four transfers and will compete in the ACC after joining the conference last spring. The ACC stands as one of the top women's basketball conferences in the country with power house programs like Louisville, NC State and the 2018 National Champions Notre Dame. Cal was selected 14th in the preseason poll with the Fighting Irish picked to win the conference after a second place finish last season.
Among the set of newcomers this season is the No. 22-ranked (ESPN) freshman class in the country, comprised of four rookies, including two who are part of ESPN HoopGurlz Top 100 - Kamryn Mafua (No. 54) and Zahra King (No. 76). The class also includes last year's Gatorade and MaxPreps Hawaii State Player of the Year Lola Donez, as well as Gabby Abigor who led the country in blocks as a sophomore during the 2021-22 season.
Historically, Cal is riding a six-game win streak over Saint Mary's dating back to 2016 and both programs have met in non-conference play in each of the last three years.
Monday's game will be streamed live on the ACC Network and tickets can be bought online at smcgaels.com. Be sure to follow your Gaels on Facebook, Instagram, and X to get all the latest Saint Mary's athletics updates and information.
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