Women's Basketball Returns Home for Two

This Week in Rattlers Basketball
Game #14 • Home Game #9 • #3 Texas Woman's • Thursday, January 15 • 5:30 p.m.
Notes & Connections
•    Thursday marks the second meeting between the two teams already, with TWU winning 59-53 in Denton on Dec. 16.
•    TWU senior Gabby Elliott played her first season at StMU and was LSC Freshman of the Year in 2022-23.
•    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 sixth straight game and the seventh in the last eight between the teams with TWU ranked inside the top-20.
•    Christin Callens led all players with 16 points in the first game, while Lena Newby had a game-high three blocks.
On This Date: Jan. 15
•    StMU is 6-6 with a 5-3 home record in games played on Jan. 15.
•    The Rattlers and Pioneers have never played on Jan. 15, though StMU is 4-4 in conference games.
•    StMU is 2-1 against current LSC teams on Jan. 15.

Game #15 • Home Game #10 • UT Tyler • Saturday, January 17 • 1 p.m.
Notes & Connections
•    Saturday marks the 11th game in the series, which have all taken place in the LSC era for both teams.
•    StMU graduate assistant coach Frances King played two years at UT Tyler, scoring 373 points with 2.4 assists and 2.8 rebounds per game.
•    The Patriots have twice as many Australians on their roster (4-to-2), while StMU has twice as many Spaniards (2-to-1) and an equal number of Canadians (1 each).
•    The two teams have had several extremely low scoring games against each other, including a 37-31 defensive showing on Jan. 11 last year, and both rank in the top 50 in Division II in scoring defense this season.
•    StMU ranks 37th nationally in field goal percentage defense (35.8), while UT Tyler ranks 50th (36.2).
On This Date: Jan. 17
•    StMU is 6-4 in games played on Jan. 17, though this will be only the third home game.
•    The Rattlers are 4-1 in conference play and 3-1 against current LSC teams on the 17th.
•    StMU and UTT have never met on this date.

STORYLINES
Home Sweet Home: The St. Mary's Women's Basketball team returns home to host No. 3 Texas Woman's in a rematch from December 16 and UT Tyler on Saturday at 1 p.m. Thursday's game features several student giveaways and a competition between student groups on campus, while Saturday is Alumni Day, and a memorial tribute to Sydney Hardeman (2018-22), who passed away in November.

Tough Slate: This week marks the 8th and 9th games of the Lone Star Conference season, and games five and six for the Rattlers against the top five teams in the LSC standings. Those five teams have a combined two losses in league play, with one of the two coming at the hands of StMU (over Lubbock Christian).

The I's Have It: Senior Imani Ivery tied her season-high with 12 points at West Texas A&M on Saturday, and she scored 20 of the team's 31 bench points last week on the road. Ivery was 9-for-18 on the road (50%), and chipped in three assists, three rebounds and two steals.

First Meeting: Texas Woman's handed StMU its first loss of the season on the first meeting between the teams on Dec. 16. St. Mary's overcame a slow start to take a lead late, but then-No. 4 Texas Woman's made its final five free throws to escape with a narrow 59-53 victory. Christin Callens led all players with 16 points and had a team-high eight rebounds, while blocking two shots and collecting one steal. Quezia Bertoni, in her first start of the season, scored 12 points with six coming at the free throw line as she was fouled seven times. She chipped in a team-high tying three assists with three rebounds.

Starting Strong: Since moving to the starting lineup six games ago, senior Quezia Bertoni has scored in double figures four times and is averaging 10.5 points per game, well above her 5.8 average in her first four games off the bench. The Brazilian now scored the 200th point of her St. Mary's career against Eastern New Mexico on Thursday and now has 215 in 28 games (7.7/game).

A Perfect Dozen: Sophomore forward Christin Callens has scored in double figures in 12 straight games and leads the team with 12.3 points per game. The streak is the longest of her career, bettering the two nine-game double-digit scoring streaks she amassed as a freshman. Callens is on pace to become the 18th 1,000 point scorer in St. Mary's history with her 13.7 points per game average.

League Leaders: St. Mary's leads the Lone Star Conference in blocked shots (4.8), ranking 17th in all of Division II. The Rattlers also ranks second in the LSC in defensive rebounds per game (27.5).

Sultana of Swats: Sophomore Raynne Malik has blocked at least one shot in all 13 games this season, and in 14 games straight dating back to the 2024-25 season finale against St. Edward's. Malik ranks fifth in school history with 87 career blocks. Next on the StMU chart is Teri Mollett (1979-82) with 123 blocks.

Ten For Ten: Ten different Rattlers have scored in double figures during the 2025-26 season. Christin Callens has done so a team-best 11 times, while Aina Maynou is second with six games. Both Quezia Bertoni and Allie Garcia have done so five times, Imani Ivery has scored 10 or more twice, and Tiara Louis, Raynne Malik, Andrea Montesinos, Lena Newby and Brianna Vargas have all hit the double digit milestone once.

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

Take Two, They're Free: Sophomore Christin Callens currently ranks fourth in the Lone Star Conference and 54th in NCAA Division II in free throw percentage, shooting 85.0. Eight times this season, Callens has been perfect at the charity stripe and has made 34-of-40 attempts. She has increased her percentage almost 12 percent over her first year, improving from .743 (78-105) in 2024-25.

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. 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.

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 on Nov. 22. 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.