SAN FRANCISCO – Saint Mary's Women's Basketball will stay in the Bay Area while going on the road this week, as they head to San Francisco on Thursday and Santa Clara on Saturday.
 
The Gaels are 48-31 all time against the Dons, after splitting last year's season series with each team winning on the road. Meanwhile SMC has already defeated the Broncos once this year at home, and have now won five straight against Santa Clara.
 
THE DETAILS
Saint Mary's (10-12, 3-5) at San Francisco (9-13, 5-4)
Thursday, February 8 at 6:00 p.m.
War Memorial Gym at the Sobrato Center – San Francisco
WATCH | LIVE STATS |
 
Saint Mary's (10-12, 3-5) at Santa Clara (7-7, 5-4)
Saturday, February 10 at 2:00 p.m.
Leavey Center – Santa Clara, Calif.
WATCH | LIVE STATS |
 
LAST TIME OUT
Saint Mary's Women's Basketball lost 68-35 to the Portland Pilots in a Saturday evening match up at home, as the Pilots avoided being swept by the Gaels.
 
SMC defeated the Pilots in overtime in their first meeting in Portland, but this time the Gaels were shorthanded and played with only eight healthy players tonight as Tayla Dalton, Makena Mastora, and Addi Wedin were all out. Dalton is competing with the New Zealand national team for Olympic qualifiers. Mastora is out with a concussion, and Wedin suffered a season-ending knee injury against Pacific.
 
The Pilots were off to a strong offensive start, and after shooting 53.8% from the floor while holding the Gaels to 13.3%, Portland finished the opening period with a 19-5 advantage.
 
SMC was down 28-15 with three minutes remaining in the second quarter and with two seconds remaining in the first half, Zeryhia Aokuso knocked down a jumper to cut the deficit to 11 at the break as Portland finished the half with a 32-21 lead.
 
Portland continued to dominate offensively and they held Saint Mary's to 25% from FG tonight, while shooting 40% themselves. Senior, Ali Bamberger led the Gaels with 11 points and nine rebounds on 50% shooting from the floor. Leia Hanafin contributed with nine points of her own for her season high. 
 
ABOUT SAN FRANCISCO
After leading USF with back-to-back 20-point double-double performances, Debora dos Santos has been named Credit Union 1 West Coast Conference Player of the Week.
 
In two league games last week, dos Santos averaged a double-double with 22.0 points and 11.5 rebounds per game while shooting 56.7 percent from the field. Defensively, she added three steals and one block throughout the week.
 
In nine WCC games this season, dos Santos ranks fifth in scoring, averaging 16.1 points per game, while leading the league in rebounding at 11.6 per game. Dos Santos continues to be the lone WCC member averaging a double-double on the season, as she has totaled 14.7 points and 10.7 rebounds per game through 22 contests.
 
Overall, this marks the third weekly WCC honor by a Don this season, as Jasmine Gayles was previously selected twice on November 13 and January 15.
 
ABOUT SANTA CLARA
Tess Heal is the leading scorer, averaging 17.8 ppg on 46.2-percent shooting from the field and is adding a team-high 4.4 apg. She is fourth in the country with 125 made free throws and 10th with 140 attempts while 15th at 89.3-percent from the charity stripe. She is 21-of-61 from deep as well. Heal was named to the 2024 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Midseason Watch List.
 
Olivia Pollerd is second with 15.3 ppg and has added 4.4 rpg while knocking down a team-high 68 three-pointers, fifth nationally, for a 45.3-percent mark from deep, ninth in the country. Marya Hudgins' 6.2 rpg lead the team and she is scoring 8.6 ppg while Keeley Frawley is second with 6.0 rpg.
 
The Broncos' 12 non-conference wins are their most since the 1990-91 season when they went 28-3 and won both the WCC and the WNIT. Santa Clara collected seven wins in November, the most in program history in that month.
 
#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.