Women's Basketball Opens Regular Season in Colorado

St. Mary's (0-0)
Head Coach: Valerie Huizar (49-41)
at Colorado School of Mines (0-0)
Head Coach: Brittany Simpson (198-114)
Arena: Lockridge Arena

St. Mary's (0-0)
Head Coach: Valerie Huizar (49-41)
vs Regis (0-0)
Head Coach: Molly Marrin (130-95)
Arena: Lockridge Arena

Opening Tip:

•    For the third-straight season, the St. Mary's Women's Basketball team will kick off the season at the South Central Regional Crossover. This year the Rattlers will be in Golden, Colo., along with host Colorado School of Mines, Regis and St. Edward's.

•    The Rattlers beat a Division I foe for the second-straight year, winning 70-64 in an exhibition at UTRGV on Saturday. A season ago, the Gold and Blue won a thrilling 66-65 decision at Sam Houston State on a last second three-pointer.

•    Freshman forward Taylor Haggan led the team in both exhibition games with 13 points against UTSA and 17 in the win over the Vaqueros.

•    The Rattlers have half the team returning for the 2022-23 season and welcome eight newcomers for a total of 15 players on the roster. Of the eight newcomers, four are freshmen and four are transfers.

•    Senior forward Natalia Ryng was named a Player to Watch by the Lone Star Conference. Ryng concluded last season narrowly missing a triple-double with 10 points, 10 rebounds and seven steals in the team's win over rival, St. Edward's.

•    The next victory for St. Mary's will be the 50th in the career of Head Coach Valerie Huizar. 

•    A dozen games last season were decided by five or fewer points and the team was 4-8 in those contests.

•    Both seniors Teanna Huggins and Ariah Powell surpassed the career 200-point milestone (NCAA) in the final week of the 2023 season. Huggins begins 2023-24 with 220 points, while Powell has 217. Fellow senior Natalia Ryng is one point shy of 300.

•    The Rattlers ended 2022-23 with four Lone Star Conference wins, double their total from the 2021-22 campaign.

•    The 2023-24 season is the 46th for St. Mary's University. The Rattlers are 709-559 in 45 years of play.

•    Head Coach Valerie Huizar was one of the featured coaches by the WBCA during October's Hispanic Heritage Month. 

•    The 2023-24 season brings the return of the annual St. Mary's Thanksgiving Classic. The tournament will be in its ninth year and feature Texas A&M Kingsville, Missouri Western State and Oklahoma Baptist - all playing for the first time.