WBB | Saint Mary’s Sinks Pepperdine at the Buzzer on Aussie Heritage Night, 53-51

Thursday, January 22

Moraga, CA

6:30 PM

Saint Mary's College of California

12-9,3-5WCC

Pepperdine

11-9,2-6WCC

Pepperdine

Saint Mary's (CA)

#5 Abigail Shoff hit the game-winner to defeat Pepperdine 53-51

Photo by: Kellen Steplight/SMC Athletics

WBB | Saint Mary’s Sinks Pepperdine at the Buzzer on Aussie Heritage Night, 53-51

1/22/2026 9:39:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Highlights

MORAGA, Calif. - No shocker here as Saint Mary's took another game down to the wire but came out victorious this time as Abigail Shoff hit a pull-up jumper at the buzzer to down Pepperdine and win their third conference game of the season, 53-51 on Thursday night. The Gaels were down three points going into the fourth quarter but went on to hold the Waves to a season low 51 points en route to the dramatic two-point victory.

Edie Clarke shined with 16 points to lead all scorers while four other players had six more points on the night. Addi Wedin had nine points and hit a big three-pointer in the fourth quarter that helped put Saint Mary's up 43-42 with 5:37 remaining. Pepperdine hit a massive second chance three-pointer with six seconds remaining to tie the game but after an SMC timeout to advance the ball, Abigail Shoff would take the in-bound and hit the pull-up jumper as time expired to give the Gaels the 53-51 victory.

Saint Mary's will head to Seattle to take on the Redhawks Saturday afternoon to conclude their two-game week, seeking their fourth WCC win of the season.

FIRST HALF SMC 27-25 PEPP

Saint Mary's weathered an early barrage of three-pointers from Pepperdine and found themselves down 13-11 at the end of the first quarter. On Australian Heritage Night, Edie Clarke came out hot with seven of the team's eleven points including a three ball to keep the Gaels close. Abigail Shoff and Melesungu Afeaki accounted for the other four points as Saint Mary's held Pepperdine to 35% shooting while forcing four turnovers.

Saint Mary's would flip the score in their favor in the second quarter, outscoring the Waves 16-12 to take a two-point lead into the break. The Gaels defense kicked into another gear during the second ten-minute period as they forced seven turnovers leading to eight points. Pepperdine still shot 62% from the field in the period but Saint Mary's made seven field goals and pounded the paint to take a two-point lead into the break. Clarke had nine points to lead the Gaels and senior transfer Georgia Grigoropoulou gave head coach Jeff Cammon quality minutes yet again off the bench, finishing the half 3-for-3 from the field for six points.

FINAL SMC 53-51 PEPP

The lead would flip to three points in favor of the Waves after they hit another pair of three-pointers to go up 41-38 at the end of three. Scoring was at a premium as the conference's best defense in Saint Mary's kept Pepperdine at bay but they were able to knock down some shots from beyond the arc to take a three-point lead into the fourth. Edie Clarke had another three points in the quarter and the Gaels were 3-for-4 from the stripe to remain within striking distance.

Once again, defense helped spark the Gaels comeback as they forced six turnovers over the final ten minutes of the game, scoring a whopping eleven points off those turnovers. Their total more than doubled in that category in the fourth quarter and was a huge momentum swinger down the stretch.

Saint Mary's went on an 8-0 run under the two-minute mark to take a six-point lead, their largest of the night, and forced a Pepperdine timeout. Clarke got two layups to drop during the scoring run and then a driving layup from Mauriana Hashemian-Orr forced the Waves timeout. Despite the six-point advantage, Pepperdine still found a way to tie the game thanks to a three-point play off an SMC turnover and then cashing in on a second-chance three-pointer with six seconds remaining.

After a Cammon timeout to advance the ball into the frontcourt, Saint Mary's would have just under five seconds to get a shot off for the potential win. Hashemian-Orr got the in-bound to Shoff and after faking a dribble hand-off, Shoff drove downhill and hit a stepback jumper for the win as time expired. Saint Mary's has been in nearly every game this season and have been on the wrong side of some tough defeats as of late, but Shoff got the jumper to fall to give the Gaels the thrilling 53-51 home victory.

Shoff finished the night with six points on 3-5 shooting including the game-winner. Clarke had a game high 16 points to represent the Aussies while Addi Wedin shot 75% from the field for her nine points.

GAME NOTES

Edie Clarke had a game high 16 points; her first game in double-figures since their first meeting with Pepperdine on January 2nd
Mauriana Hashemian-Orr led all players with five assists, her fifth game of the season with five or more assists
Hashemian-Orr has recorded 5+ assists in three of her last four games
Amy Kurkowski matched her career high with three assists; also scored four points on 2-for-2 shooting
Saint Mary's recorded a season low ten turnovers and have now lowered their season average to 18.0
The Gaels forced 19 turnovers; Pepperdine's fourth highest total of the season
The Gaels were +11 in points off turnovers and +10 in paint points
The Gaels are now 11-3 this season when shooting better than their opponent from the field
After starting the season 5-0 at home, Saint Mary's had lost four straight but snapped that streak with their 53-51 win over Pepperdine; their first home win since December 20th
Saint Mary's has won seven of their last eight games against Pepperdine dating back to the 2023 season

LOOKING AHEAD

Saint Mary's will conclude their two-game week in the Pacific Northwest as they take on first-year WCC member Seattle U on Saturday, January 24th. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00 PM and you can catch all the action live on ESPN+.

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