SAN ANTONIO — The St. Mary's Women's Basketball team almost completed the comeback against 12th-ranked Missouri Western State on Friday in the team's home opener, but fell short, 52-47.
The Rattlers (0-3) defense held the high-scoring Griffons (4-0) well below their season scoring average of 92.33, surrendering only 52 points, and held the team to a .327 percent shooting percentage, almost 100 points lower than any other game this season.
St. Mary's trailed by as many by 13 with 2:17 remaining in the third quarter (41-28) but chipped away, tying the game on a free throw by senior
Natalia Ryng (Gdynia, Poland) with 1:03 left in the game.
The Rattlers' 50 rebounds in the game ties a St. Mary's Thanksgiving Tournament record for most boards, tying the 2014 StMU team that had 50 against Angelo State. It is also a season-high for the Rattlers.
Freshman
Taylor Haggan (Parker, Texas) led the game with 13 points, while junior
Sheridan Kavanagh (Melbourne, Australia) added 11 points and seven rebounds. Ryng led the team with nine rebounds, while senior
Teanna Huggins (San Antonio) grabbed six offensive rebounds and eight total. Kavanagh also tallied a game-high four steals, while Ryng had two of the team's three blocked shots.
The Griffons were led by Tiani Ellison off the bench with 11 points, while Bronna Budgetts scored 10 and Connie Clarke had a game-high 11 rebounds. Clarke also led MWSU with three steals and two assists.
Both teams struggled shooting in the first half, combining to go just 2-for-23 from beyond the arc. The Griffons shot 33.3 percent from the field (10-for-30), while the Rattlers shot 21.9 percent (7-for-32), and each team turned the ball over 11 times.
