Women's Basketball Faces Tough Tests to Close Out 2025

This Week in Rattlers Basketball
at #4 Texas Woman's • Tuesday, December 16 • 6 p.m.
Notes & Connections
•    Tuesday marks the 29th game in the series between St. Mary's and Texas Woman's with the Pioneers holding a 16-12 lead.
•    Senior Gabby Elliott played her first season at StMU and is in her second year with TWU. She leads the Pioneers with 16.7 points and 10.3 rebounds per game.
•    StMU senior Aina Maynou and TWU sophomore Jordyn Hernandez were teammates last season at Texas A&M-Kingsville. 
•    StMU sophomore Peyton Stellato and TWU junior Madi Lumsden spent the last two seasons together at Angelo State.
•    This will be the fifth-straight game and the sixth in the last seven between the teams where TWU is ranked inside the top-20.
On This Date: Dec. 16
•    StMU is 3-6 all-time in games played on Dec. 16.
•    The Rattlers have won two of the last three on Dec. 16, last falling to ENMU, 45-52 in 2017.
•    The Rattlers and Pioneers have never met on this date in the 28-game history.

vs Central Oklahoma • Thursday, December 18 • 5:30 p.m.
Notes & Connections
•    Central Oklahoma leads the series 4-2, and this will be the first meeting between the teams that is not part of a tournament.
•    UCO Assistant Coach Karley Miller played four times against the Rattlers while she played for Cameron with 14 points, five rebounds, two assists and a steal for her career from 2019-23.
•    Thursday will be the fourth-straight game in the series to take place in Bill Greehey Arena.
•    The Rattlers rank sixth in the nation in blocked shots/game (6.3), while Central Oklahoma ranks 17th (5.0). Both teams lead their respective conferences in blocks.
•    UCO's Jerney Bennett ranks third nationally with 3.75 blocks per game, while Raynne Malik for the Rattlers ranks fifth with 3.29 a contest.

On This Date: Dec. 18
•    StMU is 4-4 all-time in games played on Dec. 18
•    The Rattlers are looking to snap a two-game losing streak on this date.
•    St. Mary's is 3-0 on Dec. 18 against teams from Oklahoma (SE Okla. St., Panhandle State, Cameron).

Storylines

Final Games of 2025: The St. Mary's Women's Basketball team faces a tough test to end the 2025 calendar year, playing at #4 Texas Woman's on Tuesday before hosting Central Oklahoma on Thursday in the final non-conference game at 5:30 p.m. inside Bill Greehey Arena.

Eight Is Great: St. Mary's is one of only eight undefeated teams remaining in Division II, joining Lubbock Christian (11-0), Minnesota State (11-0), Malone (10-0), Nova Southeastern (10-0), Grand Valley State (9-0), Indiana (PA) (6-0) and Saint Anselm (5-0). The Lone Star Conference is the only league to have two unblemished records remaining.

Best Start Ever: The 7-0 start for the Rattlers is the best in school history, breaking the previous record of six wins by the 1997-98 team. 

Block Party: Not only will her next block be her 80th, but it will also move Raynne Malik into a tie for fifth place in StMU history with Ashton Benford (2005-09). Malik blocked 56 shots in her freshman campaign and currently ranks fifth in the nation with 3.29 blocks per game this season.

Have A Week: Senior Aina Maynou started Lone Star Conference play on a tear, shooting 90.9 percent (10-for-11) from the field, 83.3 percent (5-for-6) from the arc and she made her only free throw attempt. The Spanish guard also drained a half-court buzzer-beater to end the first quarter against Western New Mexico on Dec. 4. She is currently tied for 13th in the LSC with 13.0 points per game in conference-only games.

Starting and Finishing Strong: St. Mary's is outscoring its opponents 105-92 (+13) in the first quarter, 93-76 (+17) in the second quarter and 128-96 (+32) in the fourth quarter this season.

Finding Her Rhythm: Sophomore transfer Cornelia Petersson is starting to settle into the Rattlers game-plan. The forward from Sweden recorded a career-best four assists in the win over Sul Ross State, coming off the bench to lead the team. She has increased her play each outing, playing a season-best 18:24 against the Lobos. 

It's Been A While: A win over Texas Woman's on Tuesday would be the first over a nationally-ranked team since the Rattlers upset #21 Angelo State 70-64 on Dec. 8, 2018. St. Mary's has dropped 22 straight games to teams appearing in the top-25 of the WBCA poll.

By the Numbers: 
• Sophomore Christin Callens is only 20 points shy of 500 for her career, and she needs nine rebounds for 200. 
• Senior Imani Ivery is 15 points away from 300 for her career
• Junior Andrea Montesinos needs nine assists for 100. 
• With 12 points, sophomore Lena Newby will score the 100th of her career.

By Committee: In the first seven games this season, the Rattlers have had six different players lead or tie for the lead in scoring, with senior Aina Maynou and sophomore Christin Callens both doing so twice. Quezia Bertoni, Allie Garcia, Imani Ivery and Brianna Vargas have all been the top scorer once. Ten different players have scored in double figures in 2025-26, with Callens leading the way with six, while Maynou has done so four times.

Malik Magic: Sophomore forward Raynne Malik earned her second Lone Star Conference Defensive Player of the Week award after the Rattlers won the StMU Thanksgiving Classic. Malik blocked seven shots and grabbed 19 rebounds in the two Rattlers wins. She held the second-leading scorer in all of NCAA Division II from OBU to just eight points in the 50-44 victory – the first time this season she's been held under 20 points. Malik added six points per game and fueled a unit that allowed just 27.4 percent shooting over the two contests.

A November to Remember: The 5-0 record in November marks only the second time in school history the Rattlers have gone unbeaten, as the 1997-98 team was 4-0 in the 11th month in establishing the school record for victories to start a season with six.

Perfect Comeback: In her first game back after suffering a knee injury on Feb. 6, 2025, senior guard Quezia Bertoni put on a clinic, making all three of her shots from the floor – including a pair of three-pointers – and sank all four free throws in 13 minutes of play. Bertoni also dished out a game-high three assists for a +/- ranking of 22, more than four times more than any other player on the floor.

First to Twenty: Junior guard Allie Garcia became the first Rattler this season to top the 20-point scoring milestone, leading the team with 21 points in the one-point win against Western Colorado. Garcia scored 12 of her 21 points in the fourth quarter, including back-to-back deep three-pointers to regain the lead with 4:17 remaining, and the Rattlers held on for the victory.

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. 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.