WBB | 4th Quarter Magic Not Enough, Saint Mary’s Falls to Santa Clara 68-63

Saturday, January 17

Moraga, CA

5:00 PM

Saint Mary's College of California

11-9,2-5WCC

Santa Clara

16-5,6-2WCC

Santa Clara

Saint Mary's (CA)

#23 Addi Wedin: 36 MP, 8 pts., 4 reb., 3 ast., 2-8 3PM vs. Santa Clara

Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner

WBB | 4th Quarter Magic Not Enough, Saint Mary’s Falls to Santa Clara 68-63

1/17/2026 8:07:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Highlights Louella Tomlinson Interview

MORAGA, Calif. – Saint Mary's held the WCC's best offense to just 68 points, 13 points below their season average, but fell 68-63 to Santa Clara for their second consecutive defeat Saturday night. The Gaels took a one-point lead into halftime but Santa Clara had their best scoring quarter in the third, scoring 25 points on 64% shooting to take a 12-point lead. The Gaels held the Broncos to just nine points in the fourth but couldn't get the shots to fall to overcome the deficit.

For just the second time this season, Saint Mary's had three players finish with double-figures. Jada Hunter matched her career high with another 15-point performance while adding three rebounds and three steals. Abigail Shoff put together her third straight double-digit game with 14 points on 50% shooting and former Bronco Malia Latu added ten points and a career high nine rebounds. The Gaels will look to regroup and host Pepperdine in a rematch next Thursday, January 22nd.

FIRST HALF SMC 35-34 SCU

Santa Clara entered the night as the best three-point shooting team in the conference and they showed that in the early going, hitting three in the first quarter to jump out to a 20-12 lead. Jada Hunter had five early points though for the Gaels to weather the storm and keep them within striking distance.

Saint Mary's responded with a big second quarter though, shooting 47% from the field including a pair of three-pointers from Addi Wedin. Wedin leads Saint Mary's in three-point shooting this season with 20 made at 37%. On the flip side, Saint Mary's is the best perimeter defending team in the WCC, holding opponents to just 28% from beyond the arc. That defense showed in the second quarter as Santa Clara went just 1-for-6 from downtown and shot 31% from the field to find themselves down 35-34 at the half.

The one-point lead was aided by a 10-0 scoring run over the middle portion of the quarter thanks to buckets from Addi Wedin, Jada Hunter and Charlece Ohiaeri. Wedin finished the half with eight points while Shoff had six on 50% shooting.

FINAL SMC 63-68 SCU

Santa Clara came out firing to start the second half, hitting four three-pointers to contribute to a 25-point period. An 11-0 scoring run for the Broncos would swing the game in their favor, giving them their largest lead of the game at 12 points. A three-point play the old fashion way from Ashley Hawkins with ten seconds remaining would give the Broncos a 59-47 advantage going into the fourth.

Saint Mary's pulled off a 10-point fourth quarter comeback a week ago in Stockton and had the makings of that again Saturday night as they cut the deficit all the way down to one with 1:21 remaining. The Gaels would surge back into the game with a 16-5 scoring run to start the fourth that featured active defensive play and clutch scoring on the offensive end.

Despite the deficit being shaved to one, the Broncos closed the game on a 4-0 run thanks to a press breaking layup and two clutch free throws from Maia Jones to ice the game. A costly turnover and late fouls prevented a game-tying opportunity for the Gaels in the closing seconds as they suffered their second consecutive conference defeat.

Saint Mary's was +10 in paint points and +6 in second chance points but the Broncos hit nine threes on the evening and were 11-for-15 from the stripe to hang on for the narrow victory.

GAME NOTES

Jada Hunter matched her career high with 15 points for the second consecutive game; finished with three boards, two assists and three steals
Abigail Shoff has scored in double-figures for three straight games; scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds tonight against the Broncos
Hunter, Shoff and Latu all finished in double-figures, just the second time all season the Gaels have had three players score double-digit points
Saint Mary's evened Santa Clara with 37 rebounds; the Broncos average over 40 boards a game but give up a conference worst 40.8 a game
Saint Mary's outscored Santa Clara 36-26 in paint points and 15-9 in second chance points
Saint Mary's limited turnovers again, finishing with 15 on the night; the Gaels have recorded 15 turnovers or fewer in five of their last seven games
Six steals combined for their second lowest total of the season; Hunter had three and Latu had three to account for the team total

LOOKING AHEAD

Saint Mary's fell to 11-9 overall and 2-5 in conference play after another narrow five-point defeat to Santa Clara. The Gaels will conclude their three-game homestand next week as they host Pepperdine on Thursday, January 22nd at 6:30 PM. Tickets can be bought online at smcgaels.com/tickets and you can catch all the action live on ESPN+.

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