Perkins Knots School Record In Loss

COMMERCE, Texas – Despite Houston natives Briley Perkins and Audrey Wandji posting season-highs in scoring and rebounding, respectively, the St. Mary's Women's Basketball team was not able to overcome several big scoring runs by Texas A&M-Commerce, falling 71-49 on Sunday afternoon.

Perkins, a sophomore guard, scored a game-high tying 17 – including eight in the fourth quarter – while Wandji, a senior post, grabbed a game-best 11 rebounds. Senior center Hannah Wilson (Fredericksburg, Texas) also chipped in a season-high 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor.

The Rattlers (0-4, 0-4 Lone Star Conference) did record a season-high 15 steals in the contest – quite the turnaround from Saturday's game where they had just one – and were led in the category by senior Mya Culiver (Rockwall, Texas) with a career-high five. The Blue & Gold also blocked a season-high four shots with four different players getting a swat.

Perkins, who started the season just 1-for-4 at the free throw line, went a perfect 8-for-8 at the charity stripe on Sunday, tying the school's single game free throw percentage record. She is one of seven Rattlers to have a perfect night at the line with at least eight attempts (done 11 times).

Turnovers were extremely costly for the Rattlers in the first quarter, as they turned the ball over five times in a four-minute stretch that led to a 17-0 run for the Lions (4-0, 4-0 Lone Star). The Rattlers answered with a 6-0 run after a StMU timeout to end the first quarter for the 17-10 score.

The Rattlers continued their scoring run with the first five points of the second stanza to cut the deficit to two, 17-15 with 8:37 to play when Commerce called a timeout. The Lions came out on a 9-0 run out of the break and with 5:44 on the clock the Rattlers called for their own pause. Wandji scored three of the next five in the game and Perkins answered with a layup to pull within eight, 28-20 with four minutes left. The Lions went on another big run, scoring 11 straight before Wilson stopped the streak with the final points of the half for the 39-22 tally.

Texas A&M Commerce scored 12 of the first 14 points of the third quarter to stretch its lead to 51-24. Wilson scored a layup during the streak and snapped the stretch with a jumper. A bit later the Rattlers went on a 7-0 run with a pair of buckets by Wilson and the quarter ended with five free throws, three by the Lions and two by Perkins for the 59-37 total.

The Rattlers scored eight of the first 10 points of the final quarter to cut the deficit to 61-45, however the Lions scored 11 of the final 15 for the 71-49 final. Only Perkins scored in the final 5:07 for the Blue & Gold, amassing six of her game-high tying 17 over the stretch.

St. Mary's remains on the road for one more contest before opening the home portion of their season. The Rattlers play at Texas A&M-Kingsville on Thursday at 5 p.m. and will host the Javelinas on Saturday at 3 p.m.

INDIVIDUAL PLAYER & TEAM NOTES

• The first point of the game for sophomore Briley Perkins (Houston) was the 250^th of her career. She made a pair of free throws at 6:57 of the first quarter to hit the milestone and she now has 266 in her career.
• The Rattlers have used the same starting lineup in all four games this season.
• After having just one steal in the first game on Saturday, the Rattlers totaled 15 thefts in the contest on Sunday. The 15 steals are three more than the Rattlers had through the first three games (12). It is the most steals in a game since the Blue & Gold had 17 at Texas A&M International on Feb. 8, 2020.
• The only two undefeated teams in the 15-team Lone Star Conference are the pair of opponents the St. Mary's Women's Basketball team has faced in its first four contests of the 2020-21 season.
• Freshman Juliett Martinez (San Antonio) continued her streak of making one three-pointer in each of the first four games of the year, but she missed her second attempt on Sunday, making her 4-for-5 on the season.