WBB | Gaels Embark on Final Two Weeks of Regular Season, Faceoff with Santa Clara and San Francisco for Senior Day

Thursday, February 19

Santa Clara, CA

6:00 PM

Saint Mary's College of California

Santa Clara

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2/5/2026 Saint Mary’s Women’s Basketball vs LMU
Lions beat the Gaels 75-69
Photos by Tod Fierner

#3 Mauriana Hashemian-Orr: Leads the team and ranks 10th in the WCC with 82 assists (3.0 per game)

Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner

WBB | Gaels Embark on Final Two Weeks of Regular Season, Faceoff with Santa Clara and San Francisco for Senior Day

2/17/2026 2:50:00 PM | Women's Basketball

MORAGA, Calif. - The 2026 WCC regular season is quickly coming to a close as the Saint Mary's women's basketball team will head to Santa Clara Thursday night to take on the Broncos before hosting San Francisco on Saturday in their final home game and Senior Day at University Credit Union Pavilion.

The Gaels are fresh off a 27-point blowout win over Seattle U, improving to 15-12 overall and 6-8 in conference play. The win moved them into a tie for seventh place with Pepperdine as they continue to battle for seeding ahead of the 2026 Credit Union 1 WCC Basketball Championship in Las Vegas starting on March 5th.

Saint Mary's will look to split the regular season series with Santa Clara after dropping the home contest against the Broncos back on Jan. 17 before attempting the sweep over the Dons after their 17-point victory earlier this month, which could also secure a potential head-to-head tiebreaker of USF for tournament seeding.

GAME COVERAGE AND INFORMATION

WBB | Saint Mary's at Santa Clara | Leavey Center
Santa Clara, Calif. | Feb. 19 | 6:00 PM
Live Stats | ESPN+ | Tickets

WBB | Saint Mary's vs. San Francisco | UCU Pavilion
Moraga, Calif. | Feb. 21 | 5:00 PM
Live Stats | ESPN+ | Tickets

GAELS OUTLOOK

Gaels Post Season High 86 Points in Win over Seattle U…

The Saint Mary's women's basketball team cruised to an 86-59 victory in a rare President's Day matinee inside University Credit Union Pavilion. The Gaels' offense erupted for a season high 86 points to power Saint Mary's to its 15th win of the season and sixth in conference play.

86 points went down as a new season high for the Gaels, surpassing 77 points scored in a home win over San Francisco State back on Nov. 9. It was also the most points scored in Jeff Cammon's tenure and the most in a single-game since an 89-79 win over Santa Clara back in 2023.

Saint Mary's ranks second to last in the conference averaging just over 60 points per game with much of their success coming on the defensive side of the ball, but the Gaels punished the Redhawks in transition while also utilizing their depth. Saint Mary's outscored Seattle U 43-14 in bench points and 24-4 in fast break points. They lead the conference and rank 11th in the country with 27.3 bench points per game.

Five Players Score Double-Figures for First Time This Season…

For the first time this season, the Gaels had five players finish with double-figures en route to their 86-59 victory over Seattle U. Abigail Shoff continued her double-digit streak with a team high 13 points, her sixth consecutive game in double-figures. Also in the starting lineup was Malia Latu who had a balanced afternoon with 11 points, three rebounds and four assists. Rounding out the group was Charlece Ohiaeri (10 pts.), Melesungu Afeaki (11 pts.) and Addi Wedin (12 pts.).

Afeaki's 11 points was good for a new career high while Wedin got into double-figures for the first time since their first meeting with the Redhawks back on Jan. 24. Ten different players scored at least four points in the win with 11 of the 12 in the game scoring at least one point. Saint Mary's shot 50 percent from the field and 81 percent from the free throw line, just the third time this season they've surpassed the 50 percent mark and the first since shooting 56 percent in a 62-54 win over Grand Canyon.

Sharin' the Rock; Gaels Record Season High 30 Assists…

Saint Mary's ranks just sixth in the WCC with a little over 15 assists per game but they exploded Monday afternoon against Seattle U with a season high 30 assists. Seven different players had multiple assists in the game including a team high six assists from junior guard Jada Hunter. Mauriana Hashemian-Orr also had five assists and currently leads the Gaels averaging 3.1 assists per game.

30 assists was not only a season high for the Gaels but it was also the most in a game dating back to 2009 (as far back as the NCAA game-by-game database goes). The program record was set back in 1983 when Saint Mary's tallied 37 assists in a game against Kansas.

Senior Day vs. USF…

The Gaels will honor three seniors on Saturday against San Francisco: Malia Latu, Georgia Grigoropoulou and Melesungu Afeaki. Latu and Grigoropoulou transferred to Saint Mary's from Santa Clara for their senior seasons while Afeaki has spent the past two seasons in Moraga after transferring from San Diego. The trio will be honored pregame with friends and families. Tickets for Saturday's game can be bought online at smcgaels.com/tickets.

Series History…

Saint Mary's has dominated the all-time series with Santa Clara, holding a record of 34-13 dating back to 2001. The Broncos have had the edge though as of late, winning three of their last four meetings. The Broncos came to Moraga and held on to a 68-63 victory back on Jan. 17 and will look for the regular season sweep for the first time since 2021.

Saint Mary's is riding a two-game win streak over San Francisco dating back to last season. The Gaels crossed the Bay Bridge earlier this season and handed the Dons a convincing 17-point defeat, 72-55. The Gaels will look to complete the regular season sweep over USF for the first time since the 2018-19 season and extend their win streak to three games over the Dons, their longest since seven in a row from 2017-19.

ABOUT THE BRONCOS (20-7, 10-4 WCC)

Santa Clara boasts the best offense in the WCC, averaging 81.9 points per game as they sit a game back of first place in the conference standings with a record of 10-4. The Broncos will host Saint Mary's before traveling to Malibu to take on Pepperdine for their two games this week. They'll end the 2025-26 regular season with home games against Pacific and San Francisco as they seek their first WCC regular season title since 2006.

The high powered Broncos' offense is led by former Gael Maia Jones, who is averaging a career high 15.0 points per game this season. Santa Clara also has three other double-digit scorers including Sophie Glancey who averages 14.6 points and ranks fifth in the conference with seven boards per game. Santa Clara ranks ninth and seventh respectively in field goal percentage and three-point percentage but their pace allows them to maximize their possessions as they lead the league by a wide margin in attempts in both categories. Santa Clara also stands as the best rebounding team (43.6) and turnover team (11.0) in the conference, two categories that bode well historically speaking in the WCC.

With four games remaining, they'll have to catch Gonzaga and LMU who currently have a share of the top spot at 11-3. LMU has been the hottest team in the conference, winners of five straight games including an upset win over the Zags this past week.

ABOUT THE DONS (15-10, 8-6 WCC)

San Francisco enters their two-game week at 15-10 overall and 8-6 in conference play, good for sole possession of sixth place in the WCC standings. The Dons are winners of two of their last three including an 81-70 home win over Pepperdine last week. USF will travel to Stockton to take on Pacific on Thursday before coming to Moraga on Saturday to wrap up their regular season series with Saint Mary's.

USF averaged just under 70 points per game with the bulk of their offense coming from standout sophomore Candy Edokpaigbe. Ironically, Edokpaigbe started her collegiate career at Seattle U in their final season as members of the WAC. She was named to the WAC All-Freshman Team and since transferring to San Francisco, she has exploded with a career high 17.5 points per game for second most in the conference. Freshman guard Aina Cargol is the Dons other double-digit scorer at 10.4 points per game while also leading the team with 117 assists.

San Francisco will look to avoid a regular season sweep to the Gaels for the first time since 2019 after dropping its home contest 72-55 earlier this month.

Tickets can be bought online at smcgaels.com/tickets and fans can catch all the action 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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