SMC Sweeps Regular Season Series with Santa Clara
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Saint Mary's women's basketball team completed a regular-season sweep of rival Santa Clara on Monday night with a thrilling 88-81 victory that pushed the Gaels' current win streak to three games. With the win, Saint Mary's moved to 12-10 overall and 6-5 in West Coast Conference play. The win pushed the Gaels ahead of the Broncos in the conference standings and into fourth place as SMC again used a balanced attack with five players finishing in double figures.
The Gaels relied on the big three of Ali Bamberger, Taycee Wedin, and Madeline Holland to start the season, but more players have contributed in the scoring column over the past handful of games. It was the second game in a row five players scored in double figures, and the fourth game in a row at least four players scored in double figures.
COMING IN HOT
Saint Mary's came out going 3 of 4 from three-point range in the first quarter, with Wedin, Bamberger, and Jade Kirisome hitting from deep. The team shot 61.5% in the first overall, but the Gaels trailed by two after one quarter as the Broncos had four more second-chance points and an 11-6 rebounding advantage.
The Gaels got out to a six-point advantage early in the second quarter after a Wedin three pointer made it 28-22 SMC. The Broncos would come back to tie it at 30-30 with 5:27 to go in the half, but Tayla Dalton put the Gaels back up by three with 16 second left in the second quarter for a 42-39 halftime lead. Saint Mary's shot 50% in the second quarter and 55.2% in the half while keeping the Broncos to just 36.4% in the half and had committed one lest turn over than Santa Clara.
The Gaels shot 50% again in the third and extended their lead to seven at the end of the quarter as SMC switched from their outside shooting carrying them in the first quarter to points in the paint being their bread and butter in the second and third quarters.
COMING UP CLUTCH
The fourth quarter saw Saint Mary's get out to a 10 point-lead after a Dalton jumper just three minutes into the final frame, forcing Santa Clara to burn a timeout to try and stop the Gaels momentum. The Broncos did cut the lead to three twice in the fourth, but each time Bamberger had a second-chance basket off her offensive rebound that stopped the Santa Clara run.
A three pointer by Santa Clara cut the lead to one with 20 seconds left, and the Santa Clara crowd got loud. But the Gaels were undaunted and were as cool as the other side of the pillow at the free-throw line, again making every single free throw in the fourth quarter as they did in their home meeting against the Broncos. This time the Gaels were a perfect 11 for 11 at the charity stripe in the fourth after going 10 for 10 in the final quarter last Thursday against the Broncos. Dalton, Makenna Mastora, and Holland sealed the deal for the Gaels at the line, preserving the 88-81 win.
TOP PERFORMERS
Bamberger recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 22 points and 10 rebounds, and tied for the team lead in assists with Holland as each of them had four helpers on the night. Holland also had 14 points and Dalton scored 18 points with both of them also pulling down four rebounds. Wedin finished with 15 points and Mastora rounded out the players in double figures with 10.
Saint Mary's shot 52% on the night and 40% from three-point range. The Gaels ended up winning the rebounding battle 37-32 and thus second chance points 16-14.
UP NEXT
The Gaels will hit the road to play Portland on Thursday, February 10 at 7:00 p.m.
#GaelsRise — 2021-22 tickets and ticket packages are on sale now! To purchase tickets, click HERE. If you have questions, contact the ticket office by email smctickets@stmarys-ca.edu or call 925-631-4689…Saint Mary's Basketball…#TogetherAgain