WBB | Saint Mary’s Set to Host Wazzu and Santa Clara, Louella Tomlinson Jersey Retirement on Saturday

Thursday, January 15

Moraga, CA

6:30 PM

Saint Mary's College of California

Washington State

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#13 Malia Latu: 18 GP/13 GS, 5.7 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 40 ast., 21 stl.

Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner

WBB | Saint Mary’s Set to Host Wazzu and Santa Clara, Louella Tomlinson Jersey Retirement on Saturday

1/14/2026 1:47:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Game Notes vs. Washington State

MORAGA, Calif. - Saint Mary's returns to UCU Pavilion this week for a pair of big home contests, hosting Washington State on Thursday and then 5-1 Santa Clara Saturday night. Saturday is also a special day for the Gaels as they retire program great Louella Tomlinson's jersey, becoming just the second player in program history to have her jersey hang in the rafters inside UCU Pavilion. Thursday's tip against the Cougars is slated for 6:30 PM as the Gaels seek their third consecutive victory in an effort to get back to .500 in conference play.

GAME COVERAGE AND INFORMATION

WBB | Saint Mary's vs. Washington State | UCU Pavilion
Moraga, Calif. | January 15th | 6:30 PM
Live Stats | ESPN+ | Tickets

WBB | Saint Mary's vs. Santa Clara | UCU Pavilion
Moraga, Calif. | January 17th | 5:00 PM
Live Stats | ESPN+ | Tickets

GAELS OUTLOOK

Gaels Erase 10-Point 4th Quarter Deficit in Win Over Pacific…

Saint Mary's erased a ten-point fourth quarter deficit to win their second conference game, 60-55 over the Pacific Tigers on Thursday night. The Gaels held the Tigers to just eight points on 21% shooting and started the quarter on an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to two points. They took their first lead since the opening quarter on a three-pointer from Abigail Shoff and then Malia Latu sliced through the lane for a turnaround jumper to help ice the game with 40 seconds remaining.

Emily Foy and Abigail Shoff finished with 12 points each to lead the way offensively while Georgia Grigoropoulou and Charlece Ohiaeri combined for 11 points off the bench. Saint Mary's had been crippled by some poor fourth quarter performances earlier in the season but were able to put together maybe their best ten minutes of basketball and erase a ten-point deficit to pull-off the win. The Gaels improved to 2-3 in conference play and recorded their eleventh win overall on the season.

Shoff and Foy Combine for 24 Points in Stockton…

Scoring has been balanced across the board for the Gaels this season but Thursday night belonged to Emily Foy and Abigail Shoff. Both players operate out of the post but stand as three-level scorers as they combined for 24 points in their 60-55 win over Pacific.

Shoff had a nice fourth quarter in Stockton to help lead the comeback, recording 5 points, 4 rebounds and a pair of steals in the fourth quarter alone. She also grabbed a massive o-board with 55 seconds remaining that led to a Malia Latu jumper to push their lead to five points.

Emily Foy was an efficient 5-for-9 from the field and added two rebounds and three steals to match her career high. She also had a productive fourth quarter with eight points and a pair of free throws to help ice the game. When the Gaels play all four quarters, they prove to be a top-half team in the WCC with one of the best defenses on the west coast.

Gaels Match Season High with 16 Steals; WCC Leading Defense…

Saint Mary's allowed just eight points from Pacific's offense in the fourth quarter of Thursday's comeback win, keeping them to 55 points on the night. Their opponents PPG mark is now at 56.9 points to lead the WCC and rank 39th in all of Division I. Head coach Jeff Cammon and his squad have elite ball pressure out of their guards in Jada Hunter and Mauriana Hashemian-Orr and quality length across the frontcourt including Edie Clarke, Abigail Shoff and Emily Foy.

As a team, the Gaels matched their season high against the Tigers with a whopping 16 steals. The other time they hit that mark was in a 70-59 victory over New Mexico State to close out non-conference play. They rank second in the conference with 10.33 steals per game with a large part of that success coming from Edie Clarke and Jada Hunter. Clarke leads the Gaels with 40 on the season while Hunter has come alive as of late, recording 3+ steals in three of her last four games.

Series History…

Washington State swept the regular season series last season over the Gaels, recording their first wins over Saint Mary's since 2016. Prior to last season, Saint Mary's and Washington State last faced off in 2018 where the Gaels pulled off a road win over the Cougars, 70-64. Dating back to 2009, Saint Mary's holds a 5-3 record over Washington State. The Gaels will look for their first home win over the Cougars since 2017.

Saint Mary's and Santa Clara split the regular season series last season with both games being decided in overtime. The Gaels won the first meeting on the road after outscoring the Broncos 11-3 in the overtime period but fell at home as the Broncos overcame a 7-point deficit over the final two minutes to win 74-67 in OT. Saint Mary's is 34-12 over Santa Clara dating back to 2001 but the Broncos have two of the last three matchups over the previous two seasons.

ABOUT THE COUGARS (3-16, 2-4 WCC)

Despite being picked to finish third in this year's preseason poll, Washington State has had a rocky start to their 2025-26 season as they enter this week with just three wins and a 2-4 WCC record. The Cougars went winless over their first six games to start the season, facing the likes of Stanford, Oregon and Missouri in the WBCA Showcase. Their first win would come against Miami of Ohio before dropping their next six games heading into conference play.

To the Cougars credit, they do lead the WCC with a combined six Quad 1 and Quad 2 games this season including 5th ranked LSU in the 2025 Paradise Jam. After winning their conference opener against Pepperdine, they took another step back losing four of their next five games to fall to 2-4.

Three double-digit scorers lead the way for the Cougars including Eleonora Villa who ranks 2nd in the WCC with 18.0 points per game. The third-year guard was named All-WCC Second Team a season ago and is proving to be one of the best scorers in the league this season. She also ranks 8th in the WCC with 3.2 assists per game. Charlotte Abraham and Alex Covill also average just over ten points per game to round out the scoring as Abraham ranks 5th in the conference with nearly seven boards per game.

Kamie Ethridge leads the Cougars in her eighth season after being hired back in 2018. She won the 2023 Pac-12 Conference Tournament and has guided the Cougars to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances from 2021 to 2023.

ABOUT THE BRONCOS (15-4, 5-1 WCC)

Santa Clara is off to a historic start this season, entering the week with a 15-4 record and a 5-1 record in WCC action. The Broncos are scoring the ball at an elite rate, leading the conference with 82.5 points per game and also dominate the glass with over 40 boards a night. The Broncos have five players averaging double-figures including former Gael Maia Jones who is averaging a career high 15.1 points per game. Sophie Glancey is also averaging 14.6 points and a team leading 7.0 rebounds per game as the Broncos lead the conference in rebounding margin.

Santa Clara ranks just fifth in field goal percentage but leads the conference by a wide margin in attempts and makes, contributing to their 80+ points a game. On top of that, they give the ball away just 10.7 times per game for the best turnover margin in the conference. Like wins for the Broncos in the non-conference include Wyoming, Fresno State, Grand Canyon and North Texas. Aside from a slip up in LA in a road loss to LMU, the Broncos have outscored their opponents 499-435 during conference play and have won three of their last four games to sit at 5-1 in WCC play.

Head coach Loree Payne is in her first season leading the Broncos after arriving from Northern Arizona. She spent eight seasons with the Lumberjacks and finished her tenure as the program's all-time wins leader with 136 and guided NAU to their first ever postseason victory in 2025. She also won a program record 27 games during the 2024-25 campaign before making her way to Santa Clara following last season.

Tickets can be bought online at smcgaels.com and you can stream both games live on ESPN+. 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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