EL PASO, Texas – For the fifth time in six seasons, the St. Mary's Women's Basketball team traveled to El Paso for a preseason exhibition against the UTEP Miners.
The Rattlers faced a tough, pressing defense and a team coming off one of its most successful campaigns in years, and dropped an 83-45 decision. The Gold & Blue saw some positive things in their game, as well as some things to work on before the regular season begins on Nov. 12 at the South Central Regional Crossover in Denver.
Fouls were a major concern for both teams as they were whistled a combined 46 times. Turnovers were also an issue for the Rattlers as they committed 27 on the afternoon and every player recorded at least one.
Head Coach
Jason Martens played 13 different student-athletes in the contest, including all four active newcomers. Fifth-year senior
Hannah Wilson (Fredericksburg, Texas) led the Rattlers with a double-double, scoring a team-high 17 points with 10 rebounds in 26 minutes.
Fellow fifth-year
Mya Culiver (Rockwall, Texas), junior
Sydney Hardeman (Allen, Texas) and freshman
Ariana Rosado (Round Rock, Texas) each added five points and Hardeman hit the team's lone triple on the day. Both junior
Tonia Bilic (Zagreb, Croatia) and junior
Michaela Kucera (Schwäbisch Hall, German) each grabbed five rebounds and Kucera led the game with two blocked shots. Culiver also led the Rattlers with three assists.
The Rattlers were doubled up in the first quarter, 20-10 on the scoreboard, however they did out-rebound the Miners, 13-6. Wilson showed she was in midseason form, with five points and five rebounds in the first six minutes of the game.
In the second quarter, the team doubled its output from the first, adding 20 points and shooting 53.3 percent from the field. Wilson tacked on six points and three rebounds, while Hardeman added five and Rosado four points. StMU also continued to extend the rebounding lead, out-rebounding UTEP, 10-7 and they made four of their last five baskets in the half.
The second half was an offensive struggle for the Rattlers as they managed only 15 points and the Miners closed the contest on a 14-3 run over the final 5:43.
The Rattlers face preseason #23 in the coaches poll and #11 in the D2SIDA poll in Colorado School of Mines on Friday at Regis University. Tip-off is slated for 8 p.m. Central. St. Edward's and Regis play the early game at 6 p.m.
