Ranked Foes Up Next for Women's Basketball; Time Changes for TWU Tip

This Week in Rattlers Basketball
at #2 Texas Woman's • Thursday, January 9 • 11 a.m.
St. Mary's (7-5, 3-3)
Head Coach: Valerie Huizar (62-68)
at #2 Texas Woman's (13-1, 6-1)
Head Coach: Beth Jillison (285-209) 
Broadcast: FloCollege. 

at #14 UT Tyler • Saturday, January 11 • 1 p.m.
St. Mary's (7-5, 3-3)
Head Coach: Valerie Huizar (62-68)
at #14 UT Tyler (11-2, 6-1)
Head Coach: Rebecca Alvidrez (84-28) 
Broadcast: FloCollege. Play-by-play: Spencer Pattison

 

Ranked Foes: St. Mary's starts a four-game road trip with a pair of nationally-ranked teams, playing at No. 2 Texas Woman's on Thursday at 11 a.m. (NOTE THE TIME CHANGE) and #14 UT Tyler on Saturday at 1 p.m.. The two teams are tied atop the Lone Star standings with 6-1 league records. The Rattlers are 0-1 this season against ranked opponents, falling 71-43 at then-#7 Lubbock Christian.

Series History with Texas Woman's: The Pioneers have won the last six games against St. Mary's and hold a slight 14-12 lead in the series. Texas Woman's is 6-3 in Denton, and the last win for the Rattlers at Kitty Magee Arena was back in 2012, a 62-51 victory on Dec. 5. 

Scouting the Pioneers: Texas Woman's is 13-1 on the season and ranked No. 2 in the nation after playing in the NCAA Semifinals a season ago. Defending POY Ashley Ingram leads the way with 13.9 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. She is also tied for the team lead in steals with Averee Kleinhans (18 each) and has a team-best 11 blocked shots. Leila Patel has hit over 1/3 of the team's three-pointers, sinking 22 of 60, and she is second in scoring with 11.9 per night.

Series History with UT Tyler: Saturday will be the ninth meeting between the Patriots and Rattlers with each team winning four games. UT Tyler won both meetings a season ago and have won three of the five meetings in Tyler. All eight games in the series have been in Lone Star Conference play.

Scouting the Patriots: UT Tyler is ranked 14th in the WBCA poll, sporting an 11-2 overall record with a 6-1 mark in league play. Meagan Mendazona leads the team with 16.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, while Lovisa Hevinder averages a team-best 2.6 assists and Mileina Sablinskaite is averaging 1.8 steals a night. Six different Patriots have made 10 or more three-pointers this season as UTT has made 39 more than its opposition.

Buckling Down: The Rattlers scored 13 points in the five-minute overtime period against Texas A&M International, one more than the team scored in the fourth quarter, to get the victory. It is the first overtime game this season and the first since the team played double overtime at Midwestern State on Dec. 12, 2022.

Doubled Up: For the first time this season a Rattler recorded a double-double as freshman Raynne Malik scored 13 and grabbed 13 rebounds in the win over Texas A&M International on Sunday. Both totals are career highs for the first-year player. She scored six of her points in OT, hitting all four of her free throw tries, and blocked a shot with 2:10 left that led to a pair of free throws and the lead, which the Rattlers never relinquished.

Magic Number=40: St. Mary's is a perfect 7-0 this season when shooting 40 percent or better for the game and 0-5 when connecting on less than 40 percent. In the win over TAMIU on Sunday, the Rattlers shot .407, connecting on 50 percent in the first half.

No Triskaidekaphobia Here: A trio of Rattlers established new career highs in scoring with 13 points each on Sunday. Freshman Tiara Louis, Raynne Malik and sophomore Andrea Montesinos all scored a baker's dozen in the win over Texas A&M International. Junior Quezia Bertoni also posted a career-high, leading the team with 17 points.

Getting a Charge from Charges: Sophomore Andrea Montesinos has drawn 16 offensive fouls this season and has taken at least one charge in 10 of the 12 games. No one else on the team has more than two charges, though the Rattlers have taken 29 through 12 games, and 10 players have drawn at least one.

Raynne Around the Block: Freshman Raynne Malik has made her presence felt underneath the basket early in her career. The Ontario forward has three or more rebounds in all 12 games and has blocked 23 shots already, altering multiple shots six times. Malik leads the Lone Star Conference and ranks 16th nationally with 2.09 blocks per game.

Playing the Percentages: Freshman Christin Callens currently leads the Lone Star Conference and ranks 38th in Division II shooting 52.4 percent from the field. Callens also ranks seventh in the LSC in scoring with 14.4 points per game.

Helping Hands: St. Mary's has recorded double digit assists in 10 of the 12 games this season and snapped a seven-game streak at #7 Lubbock Christian on Dec. 12. The seven-game streak ties for the second-longest in the Valerie Huizar era, only one game behind the longest streak of eight the 2023-24 team had to start the year.

Block Party: St. Mary's broke the school's single game record for blocked shots in a game with 12 against Sul Ross State on Dec. 7. Both freshman Raynne Malik and Lena Newby blocked three each, while six others had one swat in the lopsided victory. The 4.50 blocked shots per game this season would tie the school's single season record of 4.50 per game from the 1999-2000 team.