Women's Basketball Faces Rival Hilltoppers Twice in Final Week

This Week in Rattlers Basketball
St. Edward's • Wednesday, February 26 • 5:30 p.m. & Saturday, March 1 • 1 p.m.
St. Mary's (12-14, 8-12)
Head Coach: Valerie Huizar (67-77)
vs St. Edward's (11-18, 7-13)
Head Coach: J.J. Riehl (176-184) 
Broadcast: FloCollege • Play-by-Play (Home): Dan Hawkins (Away): Justin Simmons

 

Battle of the Saints: The St. Mary's Women's Basketball team faces rival, St. Edward's, in the final two games of the season. The Rattlers play in Austin on Wednesday evening before hosting the Hilltoppers for Senior Day on Saturday afternoon. St. Mary's holds a 3-0 edge in this season's battle, winning the point for all three fall sports (men's soccer, women's soccer, volleyball).

Series History with St. Edward's: The Rattlers own almost a 2:1 lead in the all-time series with the Hilltoppers, 63-32. The two teams split last season, with each team winning the road contest to close out the regular season in 2024. In San Antonio, StMU holds a 34-12 lead in the series, while they have a 28-19 edge in Austin.

Scouting the Hilltoppers: St. Edward's is 11-18 overall and 7-13 in Lone Star Conference play and has also been eliminated from tournament contention. Janiah (JP) Perkins leads the team with 13.9 points, 4.0 assists and 1.8 steals per game. She ranks second in the league in assists and third in steals. Ainsley Thunell leads the team with 5.1 rebounds per game. Former Rattler Ramsey Robledo is second on the team with 28 three-pointers.

It's So Hard to Say Goodbye: Saturday will be Senior Day for the lone senior Stina Svilberg. The Tallinn, Estonia native has played 54 games for the Rattlers in her two seasons, scoring 327 points, grabbing 180 rebounds and dishing out 46 assists during her time. Her career-high in scoring last year against the Hilltoppers, when she poured in 18 in the season finale.

Double or Nothing: St. Mary's has already doubled its win total from 2023-24 with two games remaining on the slate. One more victory will also tie the mark for the most conference wins in a season since joining the Lone Star Conference as the 2019-20 team went 12-10 in league play in the team's first year in the league.

First Time for Everything: For the first time since the series began in 2002, St. Mary's left the West Texas A&M campus with a victory, beating the Lady Buffs 65-57 on Thursday night. The Rattlers snapped a five-game losing skid and a six-game winless streak in Canyon. The freshmen tandem of Christin Callens and Raynne Malik combined to score 34 of the team's 65 points and grab 15 rebounds. Callens scored 14 with seven rebounds, while Malik scored a career-best 20 and brought down eight boards. Malik blocked four shots, and Callens collected two of the team's six steals.

Out-Performing Pundits Picks: In the preseason LSC poll, the Rattlers were chosen to finish 13th, however the team sits in 10th place in the standings with one week remaining. This is the second straight year St. Mary's has finished ahead of where they were selected as the team was picked last in 2024 and finished 14.

In Our Defense: The Rattlers have done a good job most of the season disrupting a team's offensive trends, leading the Lone Star Conference with 28.4 defensive rebounds per game (37th nationally), blocking 3.8 shots per game (2 LSC, 57 D2), and holding teams to 26.7 percent shooting from the three-point line (3 LSC, 41 D2). The team also ranks third in the league and 27th in the nation in rebound margin at +7.2, just 0.2 off LSC leader Texas Woman's.

They're All Freshman: Raynne Malik became the third freshman this season to score 20 or more points in a game, pouring in 20 in the win at West Texas A&M on Thursday. Malik joins Christin Callens, who has hit the milestone seven times this year and Lena Newby, who scored 25 in the win at Texas A&M International on Jan. 30. Callens is also one of only two freshman in the Lone Star Conference to score 30 or more in a game this season, as she scored a career-high 31 in the overtime loss to Oklahoma Christian on Feb. 13. The other freshman in the league to drop 30 in a game is Ciara Harris from Oklahoma Christian, who did so against Midwestern State on Jan. 25.

Malik's Magic: In addition to ranking second in the Lone Star Conference and 18th in the nation in blocked shots per game (2.16), freshman forward Raynne Malik continues to get better at her rebounding game as the season continues. Malik has eight or more rebounds in each of the last six games, averaging 8.83 during the streak, and she's been in double figures seven times this year. Malik currently ranks sixth in the LSC with 7.7 per game and is the top-ranked freshman in the league.

Moving Up: Christin Callens continues to climb the single season scoring list for freshmen, leaping from fifth to second with 369 points. Callens passes Soteria Banks (2017-18) who scored 360 in her first season, and both Erin Griffin (2000-01) and Gabby Elliott (2022-23) who each scored 365. Callens is now 16 points away from the all-time record of 385 set by Taylor Haggan a year ago. Callens became the ninth freshman in St. Mary's Division II history (2000-current) to score over 200 in their first season.

Oh So Close: Raynne Malik is now only three points shy of joining Christin Callens as freshmen who have scored 200 points in a season. Malik stands at 197 points and 193 rebounds with two games left on the schedule. They will become the second tandem of first-year players to eclipse the milestone, joining Jackie Woods (325) and Morgan Pullins (271) from 2011-12. Both Woods and Pullins went on to score more than 1,000 points and earn All-American honors during their amazing careers.

Diaper Dandies: The seven freshmen on the roster are accounting for 52.5 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 14.2 per game, while Raynne Malik (7.9), Tiara Louis (2.9), Lena Newby (2.3) and Daniela Ciscar (2.4) have played in the majority of the games. The junior class is next, averaging 31.0 percent of the scoring.

Block Party: Freshman Raynne Malik has blocked 54 shots this season, moving her into a tie for fourth place on the school's single-season list. She ties Paola Vasquez from her senior season in 2000-01, as Vasquez appears on the list all four seasons of her career. Malik's 54 blocks also move her onto the StMU career chart, tying for eighth all-time with Martha Brinker (2001-03). 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 54 blocks are the freshman record in the school's Division II era (since 1999-00).

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

• For the first time this season, the Rattlers lost a game when shooting 40 percent or better from the field, as they shot 41.5 percent against Cameron. The Rattlers are now 12-1 when shooting 40 percent or better for the game and 0-13 when connecting on less than 40 percent. 

• Junior guard Imani Ivery scored her 200th point of the season with her final point in the win at West Texas A&M. Ivery now has 214 this year and 239 in her career.

• The Rattlers are outscoring the opposition in every quarter this season except the second, where foes have a 67-point advantage. StMU is outscoring by 19 in the 1st, nine in the 3rd, one in the 4th and 12 in overtime.