SAN ANTONIO — St. Mary's University junior
Allie Garcia exploded for 12 points in the fourth quarter to help lift the Women's Basketball team to a 66-65 comeback victory over Western Colorado on Saturday afternoon.
Garcia, a guard from Adelaide, South Australia, led all scorers with 21 points, hitting a pair of deep three-pointers back-to-back to give the Rattlers (3-0) the lead back, 59-57, with 4:17 remaining. She is the first Rattler this season to top the 20-point scoring milestone.
Sophomore forward
Christin Callens (Houston) joined Garcia in double figures in scoring with 13 points, while sophomore
Lena Newby (Cibolo, Texas) led the team with a career-high-tying eight rebounds. Both
Raynne Malik (London, Ontario) and
Andrea Montesinos (Valencia, Spain) had seven as the Rattlers outrebounded the Mountaineers 38-to-33.
Montesinos also tied her season high with five assists, leading all players, and she had two of the team's four steals.
St. Mary's led for the entirety of the first half, but the Mountaineers (1-1) came out firing in the third quarter, outscoring the Rattlers 24-to-13 for the 52-46 lead heading into the final stanza. StMU flipped the script, outscoring WC 20-to-13 to remain undefeated on the year.
The 3-0 start for the Rattlers is the first since the 2012-13 team also won its first three games of the season. That team finished 22-7 and won the Heartland Conference Championship.
St. Mary's hosts its annual Thanksgiving Classic beginning on Friday. Texas A&M-Kingsville will square off with Oklahoma Baptist at 4 p.m. on Friday, while the Rattlers host Washburn after the conclusion of game one.
