Women's Basketball Hosts Western Colorado to Open Home Portion of Schedule

This Week in Rattlers Basketball
Western Colorado • Saturday, November 22 • 3 p.m.
Western Colorado (1-0, 0-0)
Head Coach: Adam Jacobson (35-49)
at St. Mary's (2-0, 0-0)
Head Coach: Valerie Huizar (71-77)
Broadcast: FloCollege • Play-by-Play: Dan Hawkins
 

Home Opener: The St. Mary's Women's Basketball team opens the home portion of the 2025-26 schedule on Saturday, welcoming Western Colorado to town. It will be the first-ever meeting between the two teams, and will be the second game of the doubleheader with the men's team. It also kicks off a five-game homestand for the Rattlers.

It's An Honor: Sophomore forward Raynne Malik was named the Lone Star Conference Defensive Player of the Week for the second time in her career. Malik blocked a last-second three-point attempt at Black Hills State to secure the road win ending the week with seven blocked shots and double figures in rebounds in each game with 10 at South Dakota School of Mines and 13 at BHSU. Malik currently ranks second in the LSC with 11.5 rebounds per game and leads the league with 3.5 blocked shots a contest. She also averaged 8.5 points and 1.0 assists and steals per game.

Facing New Foes: Western Colorado is the third-straight opponent to start the season that the Rattlers will be facing for the first time in school history. The Mountaineers are 1-0 on the season after defeating Angelo State 65-49 in their season opener in Gunnison. WC is also the third-straight RMAC opponent for the Rattlers.

Immediate Impact: Both junior Brianna Vargas and senior Aina Maynou led the team in scoring in the first two games, scoring 15 points each. Vargas is a transfer from Midland Junior College, while Maynou joined the Rattlers from Texas A&M-Kingsville. Vargas hit five three-pointers in the win over South Dakota Mines, while Maynou tied her career high with 15 in the win over Black Hills State.

Balanced Attack: In the first two games, five different players scored in double figures and seven players are averaging between 6.5 and 9.0 points per game, led by senior Aina Maynou and sophomore Christin Callens with 9.0 points per game.

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.

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 games, 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.

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. StMU is 1-0 when shooting better than 40 and 1-0 when shooting lower than 40 percent in 2025-26.

• Sophomore Tiara Louis scored the 100th of her career with her only basket in the win over Black Hills State. Louis averages 3.3 points per game for her career.

• Christin Callens is 80 points shy of 500 for her career. The sophomore forward averages 14.0 points per game over her 30 career games. Senior Aina Maynou needs 40 points for the same milestone.

• Junior guard Andrea Montesinos recorded her 100th rebound and now has 102 for her career. She is two shy of 100 for her time as a Rattler.

• 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.

• St. Mary's currently ranks sixth in the nation in blocked shots, averaging 6.5 per game, helping lead to a national ranking of 29 in field goal percentage defense, as opponents are shooting only 31.4 percent from the field.