Women's Basketball Hosts UT Dallas on Saturday

This Week in Rattlers Basketball
Game #17 • Home Game #11 • UT Dallas • Saturday, January 31 • 1 p.m.
Notes & Connections
•    The second-ever meeting between St. Mary's and UT Dallas takes place on Saturday. Last season, the Rattlers won 69-65 in Dallas.
•    Former Rattler Sheridan Kavanagh is averaging 7.2 points and 4.3 rebounds per game this season for the Comets.
•    UTD sophomore Emery Espinoza played at East Central HS in San Antonio. 
•    Both UTD Head Coach Joe Shotland and StMU HC Valerie Huizar are in their fourth season at current institution. Shotland also spent seven years across San Antonio as an assistant coach at Trinity, where he also played.
•    A season ago Christin Callens led the Rattlers with 24 points and eight rebounds in the win over UT Dallas.
On This Date: Jan. 31
•    StMU is 8-7 all-time in games played on Jan. 31 and has a 6-1 mark at home.
•    The Rattlers and Comets have never met on the 31st.
•    StMU is 2-3 against current LSC teams on this date.
•    The Rattlers have lost three of the last four on 1/31.

 

Unscheduled Break: The St. Mary's Women's Basketball team returns to action on Saturday, after having two games rescheduled due to the storm that blanketed much of the Southern United States. The Rattlers will now face St. Edward's on Feb. 9 in Austin, and Cameron on Feb. 28 in Lawton.

Helping Hand: St. Mary's recorded a season-high tying 18 assists in the team's 66-43 win at Oklahoma Christian on Thursday. Twelve of the 13 Rattlers recorded at least one dime in the game, led by a team-high three from senior Quezia Bertoni. 

Block Party: Sophomore forward Lena Newby came off the bench to block a career-best four shots in the win over Oklahoma Christian, in only 18 minutes. She becomes the second Rattler this season to have at least three swats in a game, joining fellow sophomore Raynne Malik, who's done so seven times in 2025-26. The Rattlers lead the Lone Star Conference and rank 20th in the nation with 4.6 blocked shots per game.

Making Them Count: In five of the last seven games, the Rattlers have shot better than 45 percent from the field, raising their season percentage from .374 to .408 during the stretch. St. Mary's has also hit five or more three-pointers in six of those seven games, including tying its season high with 10 against West Texas A&M (Jan. 10) and Oklahoma Christian (Jan. 22). The Rattlers now rank sixth in the LSC in field goal percentage.

For the Highlight Reel: Twice this season, senior Aina Maynou has drained long three-pointers at the buzzer to end the first quarter. Maynou nailed a half-court shot in the team's 79-67 win over Western New Mexico on Dec. 4, and then pulled up well behind the arc to drain a shot as time expired in the first period at Oklahoma Christian on Jan. 22. Maynou is tied for the team lead with 24 triples this season, knotting Allie Garcia.

Getting to the Line: Senior Quezia Bertoni has made at least one free throw in each of the last six games, and is 17-for-18 (.944) over that stretch, missing only one at Eastern New Mexico on Jan. 8 (4-5). For the season, Bertoni is shooting 85.3 percent from the charity stripe, making 29 of her 34 attempts. Sophomore Christin Callens has made at least one free throw in 15 straight games, and currently ranks third in the Lone Star Conference with her 83.3 percentage (40-for-48). Bertoni doesn't meet the minimum requirements of 2.5 makes per game.

Take Your Turn: No Rattler has led the team in scoring more than twice in a row this season. Christin Callens (twice), Quezia Bertoni and now Allie Garcia have each led in back-to-back games. Six different Rattlers have posted the highest in the scoring column this season, as Callens leads with six, Garcia and Aina Maynou have led four times, Bertoni has led three times, and Imani Ivery and Brianna Vargas have done so once each.

They're Smart Too: The Lone Star Commissioner's Honor Roll for the fall semester was released on Jan. 20, and the Rattlers WBB team had 10 named to the list in Quezia Bertoni, Emily Buitron, Allie Garcia, Imani Ivery, Brooke Kleinig, Raynne Malik, Aina Maynou, Andrea Montesinos, Cornelia Petersson, and Peyton Stellato. Both Bertoni and Montesinos had 4.00 GPA's in the fall.

Starting Strong: Since moving to the starting lineup 10 games ago, senior Quezia Bertoni has scored in double figures five times and is averaging 10.0 points per game, well above her 5.8 average in her first four games off the bench. The Brazilian is only 21 points from matching last season's total of 129 points (7.2/game).

Crashing the Boards: Sophomore Raynne Malik ranks second in the Lone Star in defensive rebounds per game with 5.4 and fourth in total rebounds with 7.5 per game. She also ranks second in blocks per game with 2.31 She is now tied for 10th in StMU single-season history, knotting Hannah Wilson (2019-20) with 37 swats. She also ranks fifth on the career charts with 93 blocks.

On Pace: Last season, the Rattlers tied the school record with seven players connecting on 10 or more three-pointers during the season. This season's team already has five with 10 or more, and has three others with five or more. All 15 players on the roster have attempted at least one triple, and the team has made (113) 17 more than their opponents (96) through the first 16 games.

League Leaders: St. Mary's leads the Lone Star Conference in blocked shots (4.6), ranking 20th in all of Division II. The Rattlers also ranks second in the LSC in defensive rebounds per game (27.0) and are third in scoring defense (57.9).

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. 

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.

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.