Saint Mary’s made 15 of 29 attempts from 3-point range on Saturday afternoon, carrying the Gael women’s basketball team to a 69-51 win over Cal Poly in Mott Athletics Center.
Saint Mary’s had four players knock down multiple 3s on the day, led by Emily Codding (4-for-5 from behind the arc en route to a 15-point performance) and Taycee Wedin (who took all 10 of her shots from deep, connecting on four of them for all 12 of her points).
Codding sank her first trey of the day a little more than four minutes into the game, providing SMC (5-2) a 9-2 lead, closing the opening quarter up 13-5.
Mustang sophomore guard Hannah Peterson beat the shot-clock buzzer in the left corner with a 3 to cut the deficit to 18-14 with 4:20 remaining until halftime, but Saint Mary’s would finish the half on a 9-0 run highlighted by back-to-back 3s from Madeline Holland and Jasmine Forcadilla, heading to the break with a 27-14 lead.
Codding delivered again from downtown to push the gap to 35-18 with 6:35 left in the third, but the Mustangs answered with an 8-0 run (comprised of a layup by senior forward Katie Nunnelley, a jumper by junior forward Alicia Roufosse, and baskets from Peterson and freshman guard Maddie Willett), pulling within 35-26 with 3:29 to play in the quarter.
Saint Mary’s, however, countered with a 9-0 surge to extend the lead to 18 points, moving in front 44-26 late in the third.
The Gaels continued to roll after starting the fourth up 46-28, making six 3-pointers during the initial 4:22 of the final quarter, taking the largest lead of the game (28) at 64-36 with 5:38 remaining.
Cal Poly (2-7) whittled the lead down to 15 by the final minute, as a 3 and then a drive for a layup by freshman guard Gianna Silvestri made it 66-51 with 57 seconds left. Tyra Moe hit one more 3 — the Gaels’ seventh of the fourth quarter alone — for the final margin.
SMC went 5-for-12 from 3-point territory in the first half and 10-for-17 from long range after intermission.
Nunnelley and Roufosse each scored a team-high 10 points for Cal Poly, with Roufosse shooting 5-of-8 off the bench in her return from an early-season injury.
Cal Poly will go into a two-week break covering final exams week for the winter quarter before returning to the court in the Pacific Northwest at defending WAC Tournament champion Seattle U on Dec. 17.
–Provided by Cal Poly
