Gaels Defense Puts Pilots Off Course in Overtime Win in Portland

Saint Mary's Women's Basketball took down last season's WCC Tournament Champs with a 73–67 overtime win over the Portland Pilots on Monday afternoon.

The game was worth the wait for the Gaels, after their flight to Portland was canceled last Wednesday, and the matchup was rescheduled from Thursday evening to the afternoon of January 22 due to a series of winter storms in the Pacific Northwest. 

The Gaels handed Portland just their second WCC loss of the season by forcing the Pilots into 13 second-half turnovers—25 overall. Also key: a big offensive game from Zaryhia Aokuso, who finished with a career-high 24 points. Her performance earned her honors as WCC Freshman of the Week—the fourth time she’s brought home this recognition this season.

Aokuso got off to a hot start against Portland, scoring six of the Gaels’ first eight points. Saint Mary's as a whole was on fire in the first, going 8 for 11 from the floor and leading 18–16 after the opening quarter.

The second quarter was much sloppier, with the Gaels going 5 for 12 from the floor, while Portland sunk just 3 of 15. SMC committed seven turnovers and Portland had four while winning the quarter 16–12. But SMC’s Emily Foy hit a corner three after Aokuso got through a double team and found her. The basket went in at the buzzer to narrow the Pilots’ lead to 32–30 at the half.

A back-and-fourth third quarter saw the Gaels reclaim the lead, after an Addison Wedin three made it a two-point game, and Hannah Rapp tied it up at 39–39 on a pull-up jumper with 4:05 to go in the third.

Rebounds vs. Turnovers

Portland still led by three after three quarters, but the groundwork was laid for Saint Mary's after they forced eight turnovers by the Pilots in the third while committing just one of their own.

SMC trailed by four with 3:41 to go. Wedin cut it to two, and Tayla Dalton scored on a smooth hesitation move in the lane for a layup to tie the game at 57–57 with 2:10 remaining. 

Portland snapped a scoring drought of over two minutes to go back up 59–57 with 1:15 to go. Ali Bamberger tied the game again with a pair of free throws before the Pilots went ahead again.

Aokuso hit a floater in the lane to tie the game again with 25 seconds left, and the Gaels made a big stop at the buzzer—and avoided committing a foul—to force overtime.

Portland had a 66–63 lead in overtime when Bamberger drew a foul and hit two more free throws. That cut the Pilots’ lead to one just over three minutes into overtime. When it came to rebounds, the Pilots had a 49–31 advantage in in the game, with 25 offensive rebounds alone—which gave them a 30-4 advantage in second-chance points. But the Gaels’ Bamberger grabbed the biggest rebound of the game to prevent Portland having another second-chance opportunity, and instead set up Rapp for a three pointer to take a 68–66 lead.

Rapp grabbed a big defensive rebound of her own after a missed three by Portland, and Tayla Dalton drew a foul and hit both free throws. Leia Hanafin got the rebound after the Gaels’ next stop and set up Dalton for two more free throws to ice the game and give SMC their biggest win of the season.

Inside the Numbers

Each team only made one field goal in overtime, but the Gaels’ make was Rapp’s three. They were 9 of 10 from the free throw line in the extra frame.

Four Gaels scored in double figures, led by Aokuso's 24 points on 10 of 17 shooting. Bamberger finished with 12 points, Wedin had 13, and Dalton finished with 10. Hanafin led the team in rebounds with eight.

Though the Pilots had the big advantage in second-chance points, Saint Mary's had a 25–13 advantage in points off turnovers, a 14–7 advantage in fast break points, and a 12–8 advantage in bench scoring.

UP NEXT: The Gaels make the short trip to Stockton, California, to take on the second-place Pacific Tigers on Thursday, January 25 at 6:30 p.m.

READ MORE: This story as it was published at SMCGaels.com

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