Women's Basketball Starts 2022-23 With Win

SAN ANTONIO – Working through some first-game jitters, the St. Mary's Women's Basketball fought back from an 11-point deficit in the first quarter to win the season opener, 77-74 over Regis in the South Central Regional Crossover on Friday night.
 
The Rattlers (1-0) got a balanced scoring attack as six players scored between eight and 18 points and 11 of the 12 who saw action grabbed at least one rebound in the first game of the Valerie Huizar era.
 
Senior Tonia Bilic (Zagreb, Croatia) led all players with a career-high 18 points, while junior transfer Teanna Huggins (San Antonio) added 14 and both senior Briley Perkins (Houston) and Ariah Powell (Detroit, Mich.) each chipped in 10.
 
Senior Natalia Ryng (Gdynia, Poland) tied her career-high and led the team with 10 rebounds, narrowly missing her first career double-double after scoring eight points.
 
The new-look Rattlers turned the ball over only nine times in the game, the lowest total since Feb. 16, 2019 in a 94-78 win over Oklahoma Christian where StMU also had nine. Five players had two assists, while Huggins and freshman Gabby Elliott (San Antonio) each blocked two shots.
 
St. Mary's has a quick turnaround, hosting Colorado School of Mines at 5 p.m. on Saturday. The Orediggers defeated St. Edward's 74-45 in the first game in Bill Greehey Arena on Friday.