Women's Basketball Kicks Off Conference Play at Home

This Week in Rattlers Basketball
Thursday, December 4 • 5:30 p.m.
Western New Mexico (0-6, 0-0)
Head Coach: Brenda Nichols (174-327)
at St. Mary's (5-0, 0-0)
Head Coach: Valerie Huizar (74-77)
Broadcast: FloCollege • Play-by-Play: Casey Viera

Saturday, December 6 • 1 p.m.
Sul Ross State (1-3, 0-0)
Head Coach: E.J. Lee Smith (26-56)
at St. Mary's (5-0, 0-0)
Head Coach: Valerie Huizar (74-77)
Broadcast: FloCollege • Play-by-Play: Dan Hawkins

Conference Start: The St. Mary's Women's Basketball team begins Lone Star Conference action this week, hosting Western New Mexico on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and Sul Ross State on Saturday at 1 p.m. Thursday will be a Deck the Halls event at Bill Greehey Arena, with a hot chocolate station for fans. The Rattlers will also be accepting unwrapped gift donations for Jingle Mart, aiding the South Texas Alliance for Orphans for kinship families.

Final Two: St. Mary's is one of only two undefeated teams remaining in the Lone Star Conference, joining No. 6 Lubbock Christian, which is 7-0. The 5-0 start for the Rattlers is the best since the 1997-98 team set the school record with six straight wins to begin the season.

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.

History with Western New Mexico: The Mustangs are looking for their first win of the season when they travel to Bill Greehey Arena. The Rattlers have beaten the Mustangs three-straight times at home, however, and lead the all-time series 6-3. A season ago, StMU defeated WNMU 64-45.

History with Sul Ross State: The Rattlers hold a 5-3 lead in the all-time series with the Lobos, and have won the last four meetings, including a 63-38 victory at Bill Greehey last season. The Rattlers are 2-1 at home against Sul Ross State, but last season was the first game at home in 35 years.

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.

By Committee: In the first five games this season, the Rattlers have had six different players lead or tie for the lead in scoring, with only senior Aina Maynou doing so twice. Quezia Bertoni, Christin Callens, Allie Garcia, Imani Ivery and Brianna Vargas have all been the top scorer once. Callens is the only Rattler to average double figures per game, with 10.8, while three others are averaging 8.2-8.6 a night.

Keeping It Close: St. Mary's has won all five games by a combined 18 points, keeping fans on the edges of their seats until the final buzzer. The largest win of the season came by six points against Oklahoma Baptist, 50-44, on Saturday. The Rattlers are surrendering only 53.2 points per game, which ranks 20th in Division II. St. Mary's also ranks 11th in field goal percentage defense (31.5), 22nd in defensive rebounds (30.0), and 89th in three-point field goal percentage defense (26.6).

Comeback Kids: In four of the five games this season, the Rattlers have trailed at the end of the third quarter, but have comeback to win. St. Mary's is outscoring its opponents 86-58 in the final quarter, including 13-to-5 in the win over Oklahoma Baptist on Saturday. The 17.2 points per quarter is the most in any quarter this season, with the team averaging 13.2 in the 1st, 12.8 in the second and 12.0 in the third quarters.

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.

Taking Care of the Ball: Junior guard Andrea Montesinos currently ranks 46th in the nation and second in the Lone Star Conference with a 2.13 assist-to-turnover ratio. Montesinos leads the team with 17 assists. The Rattlers have done a much better job of keeping the ball this season, averaging 13.4 turnovers per game to rank 17th nationally, compared to 19.7 a year ago.

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.