MORAGA, Calif. - The Madness of March has made its way to the women's program as Saint Mary's was selected to the WNIT for their first postseason tournament since 2022. The Gaels will travel to Houston to take on Texas Southern on Thursday, March 20th at 4:30 PM (pacific). This will be the first postseason appearance for second year head coach Jeff Cammon after leading the Gaels to a sixth place WCC finish with ten conference wins, most league wins for the program since 2019. 

The Gaels women's basketball program will make their 13th WNIT appearance dating back to 2000. They will seek their first WNIT victory since their 2019 appearance when they took down Hawaii 67-43 in the first round. In their twelve appearances in the WNIT, Saint Mary's holds a 10-12 record and made their deepest run in the postseason event in 2015, making it to the third round before falling to eventual champion UCLA. 

Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 PM eastern time (4:30 PM pacific) and additional media, ticket, TV and live stats information can be found below or at smcgaels.com. The full WNIT release and schedule can be found HERE.    

GAME COVERAGE

Saint Mary's at Texas Southern | Houston, Texas | WNIT Round 1
H&PE Arena | Thursday, March 20th | 4:30 PM (pacific)
Live Stats | Tickets

GAELS OUTLOOK

WCC Tournament Recap…

Saint Mary's earned the sixth seed in the 2025 Credit Union 1 WCC Basketball Championship. They faced off against seven seed Pacific who they had swept in the regular season but the Tigers would get the best of the Gaels in the conference tournament with a 74-59 victory to advance to the quarterfinals. 

Maia Jones continued her scoring tear with a team high 17 points on 42% shooting while senior Kennedy Johnson put up 13 points and a career high 15 rebounds for her second double-double of the season. The Gaels lone senior left it all out on the floor with the possibility that it could be her last collegiate game of her career but will get another chance Thursday night in the WNIT against Texas Southern.  

Four seed Oregon State would upset the field and rattle off three wins including upsets over top seed Gonzaga and two seed Portland to claim their first West Coast Conference tournament championship. Six WCC teams earned postseason bids tying the most ever in conference history.   

Top Three…

Saint Mary's recorded some of their best statistical measures under second year head coach Jeff Cammon during the 2024-25 season, ranking as one of the best defensive teams in the league. They forced nearly 17 turnovers and recorded over eight steals per game, both ranking inside the top-three in the WCC. 

They also finished the season inside the top-three in free throw percentage (2nd, 75.1%), assists per game (3rd, 15.0), field goal percentage (3rd, 43.5%), three-point field goal percentage (3rd, 32.6%) and bench points per game (1st, 21.3). 

Back in the Postseason…

The Gaels have made their way back to the postseason, making their first appearance in the WNIT since 2019 and their 13th appearance in program history. They hold a 10-12 record in the WNIT and recorded their best finish in 2015 when they won three games before falling in the third round to UCLA. The Bruins went on to defeat West Virginia 62-60 to claim the WNIT title. 

Saint Mary's will seek their first postseason win since 2019 when they took down Hawaii in the first round of the WNIT. The last time the Gaels were in a postseason tournament was in 2022 when they won three games to capture the WBI Championship, defeating Cleveland State 80-73 for their first ever WBI title. 

ABOUT THE TIGERS (SWAC)

Texas Southern finished the 2024-25 regular season with a 15-14 overall record and a 14-4 conference record good for third place in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. They defeated 10th seed Prairie View A&M by twenty points in the first round before falling to Alcorn State in the second round. 

Sophomore guard Aylasia Fantroy was the team's lone All-SWAC selection, being named to the First Team averaging 12.8 points and 6.3 rebounds in her first season as a Tiger. She also led the team with 70 steals and ranked third with 21 blocks as a dominant two-way player. 

Texas Southern boasts the second highest scoring offense in the conference, averaging 66.6 points per game. On the flip side, the Tigers rank 10th in the SWAC allowing 68 points per game and second in opponent made field goals with 760 on the season. Texas Southern only shoots it at a 38% clip and are just 22% from beyond the arc but are the best rebounding team in the league, averaging 42 boards per game compared to just 31 for Saint Mary's. 

The Tigers are led by head coach Vernette Skeete in her third year with the program. She holds a record of 25-64 during her tenure but led the program to their best season since 2020, recording 16 wins this season. Ironically, Vernette Skeete and Jeff Cammon both attended Alcorn State and played for their basketball programs during the 2003 and 2005 seasons.  

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