HONOLULU, Hawaii –
Allie Garcia, named a player to watch in the Lone Star Conference from the St. Mary's University Women's Basketball team showed the Outrigger Hotels Hoops in Hawaii Tip-off Classic at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletic Center why she was on the list, scoring a game-high 16 points as the Rattlers won their season opener 60-45 over sister school Chaminade on Friday afternoon.
Garcia, a senior guard from Adelaide, South Australia, hit three 3-pointers, extending her streak to 22 straight games with at least one triple.
Senior guard
Andrea Montesinos (Valencia, Spain) added a big spark off the bench, dishing out six assists with a career-high four steals. The six assists tied her career-high, which she's accomplished three prior times.
The two Griffins' who are not related to each other, each scored eight points, with freshman
Elizabeth Griffin (Aledo, Texas) nailing a pair of triples, and junior
Kamryn Griffin (San Antonio) shooting 50 percent from the field (4-for-8).
Junior
Raynne Malik (London, Ontario) led the team and tied for game-high honors with eight rebounds and had the only blocked shot of the day.
The Rattlers led wire-to-wire and built a 10-point lead in the first quarter, however the Swords chipped away, closing within one, 31-30 with 4:21 in the third period. StMU broke open the game with a 14-point run to end the third and start the fourth, including three straight 3-pointers to being the fourth with back-to-back by Garcia and one by
Kamryn Griffin. The Rattlers shot 58.3 percent in the final stanza, connecting on 7-of-12 shots.
Maddy Weaver led Chaminade with 12 points, while Holly Dolny tied for game-high honors with Malik in rebounds with eight, and Julien Parado dished out five assists.
St. Mary's advances to the semifinals of the tournament and will face South Central Region opponent Colorado Mesa on Saturday at 9:45 p.m. CT (4:45 p.m. HT). The Mavericks defeated Alaska Anchorage 74-52 in the quarterfinals.
