MORAGA, Calif. - The Saint Mary's women's basketball team is back in action this week with a pair of non-conference games against San Jose State and Cal Baptist. The Gaels will travel to the South Bay to take on the Spartans on Wednesday at 6:00 PM and then return to UCU Pavilion on Saturday to take on the Lancers for just the second time in program history. The Gaels enter this week with a 4-3 record having won two of their last three games. These are their final two non-conference games of the season before starting WCC play against Santa Clara on Thursday, December 19th.
GAME COVERAGE
Saint Mary's at San Jose State | Provident Credit Union Event Center
Wednesday, December 4th | 6:00 PM
Live Stats |
Mountain West Network |
Tickets
Saint Mary's vs. Cal Baptist | UCU Pavilion
Saturday, December 7th | 2:00 PM
Live Stats |
ESPN+ |
Tickets
GAELS OUTLOOK
After a 2-0 weekend at the Bank of Hawaii Classic, Saint Mary's returned to UCU Pavilion last weekend to take on UC Riverside. After a slow start offensively, the Gaels outscored the Highlanders 20-9 in the fourth quarter to make a late push but Riverside would hold on for the eight-point victory. Senior transfer
Kennedy Johnson continues to shine in her first season as a Gael as she led the team with nine points and five rebounds. She also leads the team averaging 12 points and six rebounds through her first seven games.
Despite recording season lows offensively, the Gaels put together another solid defensive effort, holding UC Riverside to a season low 49 points on 34% shooting. After allowing 32 points in the first half, Saint Mary's locked it down and allowed just 17 second half points on 24% shooting. Head coach
Jeff Cammon and his team now rank fourth in the WCC in opponent points per game (64.3) and opponent field goal percentage (38%), having held opposing teams to under 40% shooting in all but one game this season.
Saint Mary's will put an impressive 12-0 all-time record on the line on Wednesday against San Jose State, dating back to 1988. The Gaels have won by double figures in eleven of the twelve games and will bring in a stout defense to the Provident Credit Union Event Center against a team averaging 67 points per game.
After making the jump to Division I in 2018, Cal Baptist will visit Moraga on Saturday for just the second ever meeting between the two programs dating back to 2022. In their first ever matchup, the Gaels won a high scoring affair 88-81 and had five players in double figures. Despite winning 28 games last season and earning a trip to the NCAA Tournament, the Lancers are off to an 0-8 start and are seeking their first win since the WAC Tournament Championship game on March 16th of last season.
ABOUT SAN JOSE STATE (Mountain West)
San Jose State enter's Wednesday's contest with a 5-3 overall record, standing as one of eight teams with a winning record in the Mountain West. The Spartans are coming off of back-to-back close games featuring an overtime loss to UNC Wilmington and then a one-point victory over UMass-Lowell in the Puerto Rico Clasico last weekend. The Spartans did play a like opponent earlier in the season in Cal, but fell 53-82 in just the second week of the season.
As a team, San Jose State is second in the Mountain West in opponent field goal percentage (36%) and first in rebounds per game (40.1) and opponent rebounding per game (33.1). The Spartans are led by head coach April Phillips in her third season. In 2023, Phillips led SJSU to their first Mountain West Tournament win since 2020 as they took down Air Force in the opening round. Despite the postseason win, San Jose State has yet to record double-digit wins in a season since 2020 where they went 12-6 in conference play.
Finau Tonga is the team's leading scorer averaging 12.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Five other Spartans are averaging at least eight points per game as the team ranks sixth in the Mountain West with 66.9 points per game. Historically, San Jose State has not recorded a win over Saint Mary's in all twelve matchups dating back to 1988. Eleven of the twelve games have been decided by double-digits and four of their defeats have come at home. They will look to try and snap their 12-game losing streak and record their first ever win over the Gaels Wednesday night.
ABOUT CAL BAPTIST (WAC)
The Lancers are coming off of a historic season in 2024 after capturing the Western Athletic Conference league and tournament title. As a result, they would clinch their first NCAA tournament berth since becoming postseason eligible in 2023. Cal Baptist previously belonged to the PacWest Conference in Division II and after continued success, they started the transition process to Division I in 2018.
Since starting the transition process, the Lancers have recorded four 20-win seasons and hold an overall record of 133-54 all under head coach Jarrod Olson. Olson enters his 13th season leading the program but embarks on a new challenge this season after an 0-8 start. Olson did not return a single starter from their 2024 WAC championship squad and are off to their worst start in the Division I era. Notable defeats include Oregon, San Diego State and WCC members Pepperdine and Portland.
Grace Schmidt has stepped into the starting lineup for the Lancers after coming off the bench last season. Schmidt currently leads the team with 13.9 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, but as a team CBU is averaging just 60 points per game and allowing over 75 points, dead last in the WAC. The Lancers and Gaels have only met once in their series history back in 2022. Saint Mary's came away with the road victory in a high scoring affair, 88-81, and will welcome Cal Baptist to UCU Pavilion for the first time in program history.
Wednesday's game can be streamed live on the Mountain West Network and Saturday's game can be streamed live on ESPN+. Tickets can be bought online at smcgaels.com/tickets. 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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