Women's Basketball Begins Four Game Road Trip

Thursday, February 8 • at UT Tyler • 5 p.m.
St. Mary's (4-16, 4-10)
Head Coach: Valerie Huizar (53-57)
at UT Tyler (19-5, 13-2)
Head Coach: Rebecca Alvidrez (65-22)
Arena: Louise Herrington Patriot Center

Saturday, February 10 • at #9 Texas Woman's • 1 p.m.
St. Mary's (4-16, 4-10)
Head Coach: Valerie Huizar (53-57)
at #9 Texas Woman's (20-3, 14-1)
Head Coach: Beth Jillson (258-206) 
Arena: Kitty Magee

Opening Tip

•    With only four weeks left, the St. Mary's Women's Basketball team is fighting for one of the remaining spots in the Lone Star Tournament.

•    The Rattlers head on the road to play at UT Tyler on Thursday and at #9 Texas Woman's on Saturday, two teams who handed the Rattlers losses in the first meetings.

•    UT Tyler is in second place in the Lone Star with a 13-2 record. The Patriots defeated the Rattlers 68-47 in the first meeting and they now lead the series, 4-3. Games are tied 2-2 in Tyler with the Patriots winning the last two.

•    The Patriots scored the first 22 points of the game, with the Rattlers scoring the final bucket of the first stanza on a three-pointer by Ramsey Robledo. StMU bounced back to outscore UTT 11-to-8 in the second quarter and 22-to-11 in the fourth quarter but were unable to make up the difference. Robledo led the Rattlers with 13 points and nine rebounds, tying her career high in boards. Stina Svilberg scored 11 points and had two of the team's four steals.

•    Texas Woman's won 76-63 in San Antonio on Jan. 11 to take a 13-12 lead in the all-time series. The Pioneers are currently the top-ranked team in the league with a 14-1 conference record and a #9 national ranking. The Rattlers are 3-5 all-time in Kitty Magee Arena and have lost four straight.

•    Despite playing limited minutes due to foul trouble, Taylor Haggan scored a team-high 20 points and led the team with six rebounds in the first meeting against TWU. Vani Sancho tied her then-career high for the second-straight game with 13 points, doing most of the damage at the free throw line where she was 7-for-8. The Rattlers played even with the Pioneers in 3/4 of the quarters, but a sloppy second quarter cost them.

•    After missing four games due to injury, senior Natalia Ryng returned on Thursday with a perfect shooting performance. She was 2-for-2 from the field and made all three of her free throw attempts for seven points and she had a game-high eight rebounds.

•    Freshman Taylor Haggan recorded the fifth double-double of her career in the win over Texas A&M Kingsville with 19 points and 13 rebounds, both of which led the game.

•    For the first time since Dec. 8, 2018, the Rattlers had two players hit the 20-point scoring milestone in the same game when both Taylor Haggan and Ariah Powell tallied 21 at Angelo State on Jan. 25. The last contest was also against Angelo State as Kaitlin Walla scored 23 and Soteria Banks scored 20 in a 70-64 win.

•    Several Rattlers are closing in on career milestones or recently achieved one:

    Reyelle Frazier: 11 rebounds from 100

    Taylor Haggan: 14 points from 300

    Teanna Huggins: 17 points from 400 

    Michaela Kucera: 8 rebounds shy of 100; 12 points shy of 100

    Ariah Powell: 17 points shy of 400; 8 assists shy of 100

    Ramsey Robledo: 2 3-ptrs shy of 25

    Natalia Ryng: 30 points shy of 400

•    Stina Svilberg has scored in double figures in five straight games. Since moving to the starting lineup 10 games ago, Svilberg has averaged 9.0 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. Prior to starting, she was averaging only 1.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 0.4 assists.

•    Taylor Haggan leads the Lone Star Conference in freshman scoring with 14.3 points per game. She is two points ahead of St. Ed's Janiah Perkins (14.2/game).

•    Taylor Haggan has scored 20 or more points six times this season, which is the second-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.

•    St. Mary's has already faced eight teams this season who are currently ranked or receiving votes, or who were at the time of the game. The game at TWU on Saturday will be the final against a team appearing in the polls.

•    The four freshmen on the team are responsible for 45.3 percent (534 points) of the team's scoring this season, while the six in the senior class are scoring another 40.3 percent (475 points). 

•    Freshman Taylor Haggan currently ranks 10th in the Lone Star Conference in scoring, averaging 14.3 points per game. She is also 10th in rebounds, averaging 7.2 a contest and eighth in field goal percentage, shooting 48.0%.

•    Senior Teanna Huggins ranks seventh in the Lone Star Conference averaging 3.4 assists per game. Six times this year she's recorded five or more assists in a game.

•    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.

•    The Rattlers beat a Division I foe in an exhibition game for the second-straight year, winning 70-64 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.

•    The Rattlers are now 7-46 since joining the Division II ranks against nationally-ranked foes. The last win against a team in the top-25 came on Nov. 23, 2018 against #1 Central Missouri in double overtime, 101-97.