SAN DIEGO – In a Saturday afternoon matchup against the Toreros, the Gaels fell 69-52 at Jenny Craig Pavilion, as they were looking to sweep the Toreros after beating them 67-59 at home last month.
In the opening possession, Tayla Dalton stole the ball leading to Zeriyah Auokso knocking down a jumper. Dalton is fresh off her career best game, as she recorded 27 points in the Gaels win against LMU on Thursday. Ali Bamberger found Tayla Dalton who nailed a three pointer to put SMC up 7-6 with 6:36 remaining in the first period.
San Diego went on a 8-0 run in the following two minutes, but a jumper by Nadia Bernard put an end to the Toreros run. USD followed with a 6-0 run to end the quarter, pushing their lead to 20-9. The Gaels were held to 28.6% shooting while the Tritons shot 62.5% from FG in the first quarter.
A three pointer by Maia Jones ignited the second quarter scoring for the Gaels. She kept Saint Mary's offensive spark going as she knocked down another shot to cut the Toreros lead to 10 with eight minutes remaining. Ali Bamberger found Jones who finished the layup, SMC was down 25-18 with 6:46 remaining.
A layup by Dalton shortened the lead to six. In the two minutes of the first half, Zeriyah Auokso had two made jumpers. San Diego held a 32 to 26 lead into halftime. Both teams shot in the 40% range from FG in the first half. Maia Jones was the leading scorer for the Gaels in the first half tallying nine points on 4-6 shooting.
Tayla Dalton began the second half with a pair of free throws. Auokso nailed a jumper, but SMC was still down 40-31 with 6:30 remaining in the third period. In the following two minutes, the Toreros set off on a 7-0 run, but Dalton put an end to it with a layup. After four made free throws by Zeriyah Auokso, the Gaels still trailed 48-37 with just over three minutes left in the third quarter. At the end of the third quarter, Saint Mary's trailed 55 to 42.
After a layup by San Diego, Tayla Dalton made one of her own to begin the final quarter. Overall, the Gaels struggled offensively in the fourth quarter, as they shot 14.3% from FG and went 0-8 from three.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Freshman Zeriyah Auokso continued to play her game, as she finished the game with 19 points and seven rebounds. Tayla Dalton contributed with five rebounds and three steals.
The Gaels were unable to find their offensive momentum tonight, as they shot 33.3% from the field and 11.1% from three-point range.
UP NEXT: Saint Mary's will be back at home on Thursday, February 29th as they host USF for Senior Night at 6:30pm.
