This Week in Rattlers Basketball
at South Dakota Mines • Friday, November 14 • 1 p.m.
St. Mary's (0-0, 0-0)
Head Coach: Valerie Huizar (69-77)
at South Dakota Mines (0-0, 0-0)
Head Coach: Kyley Bachand (14-40)Â
at Black Hills State • Sunday, November 16 • 1 p.m.
St. Mary's (0-0, 0-0)
Head Coach: Valerie Huizar (69-77)
at Black Hills State (0-0, 0-0)
Head Coach: Kelly Kruger (420-337)Â
Year 49: The St. Mary's Women's Basketball team kicks off the 49th season of the sport at StMU facing a pair of teams for the first time in school history. The Rattlers play at South Dakota School of Mines on Friday and at Black Hills State on Sunday. Both games are slated for 1 p.m. starts.
Middle of the Pack: St. Mary's has been selected to finish in the middle of the pack in the Lone Star Conference this season, getting voted 10th in the 17-team league by the head coaches, selected media and athletics communications personnel. The usual suspects topped the poll in Texas Woman's (20 first-place votes, 810 points), Lubbock Christian (14, 776), UT Tyler (8, 761) and West Texas A&M (6, 663). Eastern New Mexico rounded out the top five with two first-place nods and 657 points. The Rattlers grabbed 438 points for 10th in the poll. In each of the last two seasons, the Rattlers have finished ahead of where they were picked in the preseason poll.
Keep Your Eyes On: Sophomore forward Christin Callens was named a Player to Watch in the Lone Star Conference. Callens broke the StMU freshman scoring record with 402 points (14.2 ppg) and was named to the Lone Star All-Conference Second Team in 2024-25. Callens was only the 6th freshman in St. Mary's Division II history (2000-current) to score over 300 in their first season.
Returning Firepower: The Rattlers return 83.8 percent of its scoring and 82.5 percent of its rebounding from the 2024-25 team, as the team brings back nine letterwinners from a team that finished with a 14-14 record. Six of the nine returners started 10 or more games last year, including Christin Callens who started all 28, Raynne Malik who started 24 of the 27 she played and Imani Ivery, who was in the starting lineup 21 times in her 26 contests.
Welcome Newcomers: In addition to adding a pair of Lone Star Conference transfers in senior guard Aina Maynou (Texas A&M-Kingsville) and sophomore guard Peyton Stellato (Angelo State), the Rattlers welcome Franklin Pierce sophomore transfer Cornelia Petersson, junior college transfers Allie Garcia (Williston State) and Brianna Vargas (Midland), as well as freshman guard Emily Buitron from Laredo. In six games at Bill Greehey Arena, Maynou has averaged 4.8 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists while playing for the Javelinas, while Stellato had eight points, three rebounds and two assists last season for the Rambelles.
Nine By Twenty: The Rattlers put up nine individual 20-point or more scoring games a season ago, and all nine were done by freshmen. Christin Callens topped the 20-point milestone seven times, while Raynne Malik and Lena Newby each did so once. StMU was 4-5 in games where a player scored 20 or more in the game.
Malik's Magic: In addition to ranking second in the Lone Star Conference and 18th in the nation in blocked shots per game (2.07), Raynne Malik continued to get better at her rebounding game as her freshman season progressed. Malik collected eight or more rebounds in seven of her final eight rebounds, including a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds in the season finale. Malik ranked seventh in the LSC with 7.7 per game and was the top-ranked freshman in the league, and was only the fourth freshman in StMU DII history to have over 200 points and 200 rebounds in their first season.
In Our Defense: The Rattlers did a good job last season disrupting a team's offensive trends, leading the Lone Star Conference with 28.5 defensive rebounds per game (30th nationally), blocking 3.6 shots per game (3 LSC, 62 D2), and holding teams to 26.4 percent shooting from the three-point line (2 LSC, 26 D2). The team also led in the league and ranked 22nd in the nation in rebound margin at +7.1.
Block Party: Raynne Malik blocked 56 shots last season, ranking fourth on the school's single-season list, while her 2.07 blocks per game also ranks fourth. Malik's 56 blocks are the freshman record in the school's Division II era (since 1999-00).
Rattler Numbers to Watch
• The Rattlers were 14-1 when shooting 40 percent or better for the game and 0-13 when connecting on less than 40 percent during the 2024-25 season.
• In 2024-25, the Rattlers had seven different players make 10 or more three-pointers during the season, led by Imani Ivery with 24. The seven players ties for the most with the 2005-06 team which sank 170 triples.
• Sophomore Tiara Louis needs 16 points for the 100th of her career. Louis averaged 3.0 points per game as a true freshman, playing in all 28 games.
• Junior guard Andrea Montesinos is only four rebounds shy of 100 for her career. A total of 92 of those 96 rebounds came last season for the Rattlers, while she had four in her first year in limited action at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
• Senior Sian Phipps is seven points away from the 100th point of her Rattlers career. Phipps has averaged 1.8 points per game each of the last two years for the Gold & Blue.
Blocks Galore: 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, 2024. Both Raynne Malik and Lena Newby blocked three each, while six others had one swat in the lopsided victory.
