Sunday, December 17 • vs West Texas A&M • 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT
West Texas A&M (7-4, 4-1)
Head Coach: Josh Prock (262-156)
vs St. Mary's (2-6, 2-2)
Head Coach: Valerie Huizar (51-47)
Arena: Ocean Center
Monday, December 18 • vs #16 Montana State-Billings • 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT
St. Mary's (2-6)
Head Coach: Valerie Huizar (51-47)
vs Montana State-Billings (10-2)
Head Coach: Kevin Woodin (338-223)
Arena: Ocean Center
Opening Tip
• St. Mary's Women's Basketball will travel to Florida to compete in the Daytona Beach Shootout on Sunday and Monday before taking a break for the holidays. The Rattlers start with West Texas A&M in a non-conference tilt, then play No. 16 Montana State-Billings on Monday. Both games are scheduled for 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT.
• The Yellowjackets are the third team this season to either be ranked or receiving votes in the WBCA poll on the Rattlers docket. Montana State-Billings is #16 in the coaches poll. StMU is 0-3 all-time against teams ranked 16th.
• StMU trails in both series, 1-9 all-time against West Texas A&M and 1-7 against Montana State-Billings. Both teams hold a 1-0 lead on a neutral court.
• MSU-Billings was a member of the Heartland Conference alongside St. Mary's in the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons, accounting for seven of the eight games in the series. In 2007, the teams met four times, once in Billings, twice in San Antonio and the final time in the conference tournament at Texas Woman's.
• The Daytona Beach Shootout marks the first time in 30 years the Rattlers will play in the state of Florida, as in 1992-93 the team went 1-2 at the West Florida Classic. The Rattlers defeated Brewton-Parker before dropping contests to Michigan-Dearborn and Henderson State.
• The Lady Buffs and Yellowjackets will play each other on Saturday before taking on the Rattlers on Sunday and Monday, respectively.
• Freshman Ramsey Robledo tripled her previous career-high with nine rebounds against Cameron on Tuesday.
• Junior Stina Svilberg not only broke her scoreless streak from beyond the arc on Tuesday, but she hit back-to-back three-pointers in the first quarter against Cameron to pull the Rattlers within one.
• The Rattlers perimeter defense is one of the tops in the Lone Star Conference and ranks 48th nationally. StMU opponents are shooting just 25.8 percent from the three-point line, which ranks second in the LSC to UAFS (24.6).
• St. Mary's erased an 18-point deficit early in the third quarter (8:55) against Midwestern State before the break for finals, scoring 50 of its 70 points in the paint for the second-straight win.
• Both freshman Taylor Haggan (24) and senior Teanna Huggins (20) scored career-highs in the team's win over Midwestern State. Haggan bettered her previous high of 22 from Nov. 11 against Regis, while Huggins posted her second-straight high after 19 against ENMU.
• The win at Eastern New Mexico on Dec. 2 marked the 50th in the career of head coach Valerie Huizar. It is her fourth season as a head coach, and second at St. Mary's.
• St. Mary's shot 52.6 percent in the win against Midwestern state, the highest shooting percentage in a game since the team shot 56.0 in a win over UAFS on Feb. 17, 2018.
• Freshman Taylor Haggan currently ranks third in the Lone Star Conference in scoring, averaging 16.9 points per game, only 0.8 behind the league leader, Grace Foster from Lubbock Christian.
• Taylor Haggan has scored 20 or more points three times already this season, which is tied for the third-most 20-point games by a freshman in the school's Division II history. Erin Griffin did so seven times in 2000-01, while Soteria Banks accomplished the feat five times in 2017-18 and Briley Perkins did so three times in 2019-20.
• Since turning the calendar to Lone Star play, the Rattlers defense is allowing opponents to shoot only 36.6 percent from the field, which ranks third in the league, while the 62.3 points allowed ranks sixth.
• The Rattlers beat a Division I foe for the second-straight year, winning 70-64 in an exhibition at UTRGV on Nov 4. 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 has already put herself among the elite at St. Mary's. She became the first-ever freshman to record double-doubles in her first two collegiate games.
• Several Rattlers are closing in on career milestones or recently achieved one:
Teanna Huggins: 7 assists from 100
Michaela Kucera: 14 rebounds shy of 100; 20 points shy of 100
Ariah Powell: 100th rebound vs Cameron (101)
Evelyn Quiroz: 13 rebounds shy 200
Natalia Ryng: 200th defensive rebound vs Cameron (201); 10 points shy of 350
• The Rattlers have half the team returning from 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.
• The Rattlers are now 7-43 since joining the Division II ranks against nationally-ranked foes. The Rattlers dropped a 52-47 decision to #12 Missouri Western State and face #16 Montana State-Billings this week. The last win against a team in the top-25 came on Nov. 23, 2018 against #1 Central Missouri in double overtime, 101-97.
• All seven returners on the team were named to the Lone Star Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll for the spring semester, carrying a minimum GPA of 3.30 for the semester. Michaela Kucera, Alexis Robinson and Natalia Ryng also earned D2 ADA Academic Achievement Awards for having a 3.5 minimum cumulative GPA.
