Women's Basketball Looks for Season Sweep Over Oklahoma Schools

This Week in Rattlers Basketball
Oklahoma Christian • Thursday, February 13 • 5:30 p.m.
Oklahoma Christian (7-14, 4-13)
Head Coach: Markeith Brown (21-52) 
at St. Mary's (11-11, 7-9)
Head Coach: Valerie Huizar (66-74)
Broadcast: FloCollege • Play-by-Play: Dan Hawkins

 

Cameron • Saturday, February 15 • 1 p.m.
Cameron (3-18, 1-16)
Head Coach: Jeff Mahoney (27-51)
at St. Mary's (11-11, 7-9)
Head Coach: Valerie Huizar (66-74)
Broadcast: FloCollege • Play-by-Play: Dan Hawkins

Home Sweet Home: The St. Mary's Women's Basketball wraps up a four-game home stretch, hosting Oklahoma Christian on Thursday night and Cameron on Saturday afternoon. The Rattlers are looking to complete the season sweep over both teams after winning both games in Oklahoma in mid-January.

Series History with Oklahoma Christian: The Rattlers took a one-game lead in the all-time series with the Eagles on Jan. 18 with a 59-51 victory in Edmond. StMU also holds a one-game advantage in the series played in Bill Greehey Arena, leading 6-5, though Oklahoma Christian has won the last three. The first game between the two clubs happened on Dec. 18, 1982, a close 86-85 win for the Rattlers at Midwestern State.

Scouting the Eagles: Oklahoma Christian snapped an eight-game losing skid with a 71-61 win over Texas A&M International on Saturday. The Eagles are now 7-14 overall and 4-13 in conference action. Kate Bradley leads the team with 13.9 points, while Nakia Cullom averages 10.4 points and a team-high 5.5 rebounds per game. Bradley does most of her damage beyond the arc, as she's hit 51 three-pointers which ranks third in the Lone Star. She also ranks eighth in the league with a 1.05 assist-to-turnover ratio, and she's playing 38.45 minutes per game to lead the nation.

In the First Meeting: St. Mary's led for all but 37 seconds in snapping a six-game losing skid to Oklahoma Christian, winning 59-51. The Rattlers used a balanced scoring attack as five players scored seven or more in the near wire-to-wire win. Freshman Raynne Malik recorded her second-straight double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. She also added a career-best five blocked shots, tying for the ninth-most in StMU single game history. Imani Ivery scored 14, Andrea Montesinos added nine, Christin Callens scored eight and grabbed eight boards, and Brooke Kleinig chipped in seven points. Montesinos led the team with four assists, while Callens added a pair of steals. 

Series History with Cameron: St. Mary's holds an 11-6 lead in the all-time series and a 4-3 lead in games played in San Antonio. The Rattlers are hoping to snap a two-game losing streak to the Aggies on their home floor and win their 12th in the series that started in 1982 in Wichita Falls.

Scouting the Aggies: Cameron picked up its first win in Lone Star play this season with a dominating 80-53 win over Texas A&M International on Thursday. Shamica Smith has eight double-doubles this season, leading the way with 15.3 points and 9.1 rebounds per night, while Grace Alverson ranks sixth in the Lone Star in three-point field goal percentage, shooting 31.6 from the arc.

In the First Meeting: St. Mary's outscored Cameron 21-9 in the fourth quarter to come away with a 56-51 victory on the road. The Rattlers shot 72.7 percent from the field in the final 10 minutes, including 3-3 from beyond the arc, while holding the Aggies to 22.2 percent. The defense of Raynne Malik was a big factor, as she blocked three shots and grabbed five rebounds in the final quarter to go along with six points. She ended with the second double-double of her career, scoring 15 points with 10 rebounds and four blocks. Andrea Montesinos hit a huge three-pointer with 5.9 seconds remaining and time expiring on the shot clock to put the Rattlers up five and close the door on an Aggies comeback. Tiara Louis also scored in double figures, as she scored all 10 of her points in the first half.

Moving Up: Christin Callens continues to climb the single season scoring list for freshmen, moving into sixth with 296 points. She passed both Morgan Pullins (2011-12) and Arysia Porter (2015-16) last week and is now 29 points shy of fifth on the list. Jackie Woods (2011-12) currently holds the spot with 325 points. Callens became the ninth freshman in St. Mary's Division II history (2000-current) to score over 200 in their first season.

Diaper Dandies: The seven freshmen on the roster are accounting for 51.4 percent of the team's scoring this season, despite two of the seven playing only four games each due to injury. Christin Callens leads the team with 13.5 per game, while Raynne Malik (6.7), Tiara Louis (3.2), Lena Newby (2.6) and Daniela Ciscar (2.4) have played in the majority of the games. The junior class is next, averaging 32.5 percent of the scoring.

Block Party: Freshman Raynne Malik has blocked 43 shots this season, placing her in a tie for seventh on the St. Mary's single-season records, tied with Morgan Pullins (2014-15) and Hannah Wilson (2021-22). The Rattlers record for blocked shots by a freshman is 62 by Teri Mollett in 1979-80, which also ranks second all-time. Malik's 43 blocks are the freshman record in the school's Division II era (since 1999-00).

Battle of the Boards: At Texas A&M International on Jan. 30, the Rattlers won the rebounding battle, 49-to-14. The +35 rebound margin is the largest of the season and the 14 rebounds are the fewest for any opponent in the Division II era (2000). The previous low was 18 by UT Permian Basin on March 5, 2010. 

It's An Honor: For the first time this season, a St. Mary's player earned Lone Star Conference Player of the Week honors as freshman forward Raynne Malik snagged the Defensive honors on Jan. 20. Malik posted a pair of double-doubles with 15 points and 10 rebounds in each of the wins over Cameron and Oklahoma Christian. She also swatted nine shots, blocking four against the Aggies and a career-best five over the Eagles. Malik also shot 70.6 percent from the field, missing only one shot inside the arc (11-12).

Rattler Numbers to Watch

• St. Mary's is a perfect 11-0 this season when shooting 40 percent or better for the game and 0-11 when connecting on less than 40 percent. 

• StMU leads the Lone Star Conference and ranks 35th in the nation with 28.3 defensive rebounds per game. They also rank third in the league and 34th in the country with a +6.6 rebound margin. 

• Raynne Malik currently sits second in the Lone Star and 23rd nationally with 2.05 blocks per game. Christin Callens ranks fifth in the LSC in field goal percentage, shooting 48.3 percent per contest.

• Stina Svilberg and Christin Callens both need only four points to record their 300th at St. Mary's.

• Imani Ivery is five rebounds away from 100 for the season.

• With freshman Lena Newby hitting a three-pointer against UT Tyler on Thursday, the Rattlers now have 12 of the 13 players hitting a triple against Lone Star Conference foes. The only exception is junior post Sian Phipps.

• In conference play, the Rattlers are outscoring the opposition in the first and third quarters, and have scored two points less than the foes, 881-to-879 in the 16 games.