This Week in Rattlers Basketball
Game #23 • Road Game #10 • at Sul Ross State • Thursday, February 19 • 5:30 p.m.
Notes & Connections
• Earlier this season, the Rattlers won a 64-50 decision over Sul Ross State to give StMU a 6-3 lead in the all-time series.
• St. Mary's has won all three games since the Lobos joined the Lone Star Conference last season.
• Head Coach E.J. Lee Smith was named a three-time All-American, Naismith College Player of the Year Finalist, Wade Trophy Finalist, and the 1986 Number One Point Guard In the Nation when she played for ULM. She still holds multiple school records 40 years later.
• Sul Ross State is in its second season of transitioning to Division II. They are ineligible for postseason play.
• Freshman Emily Buitron recorded a career-high two rebounds, two assists and two steals in the first meeting against the Lobos.
On This Date: Feb. 19
• StMU is 5-4 in games played on Feb. 19 with a 1-2 record on the road.
• The Rattlers and Lobos have never played on 2/19.
• StMU is 3-0 against current LSC teams on the 19th.
• The last game on the 19th was in 2022, a loss.
Game #24 • Road Game #11 • at Western New Mexico • Saturday, February 21 • 2 p.m.
Notes & Connections
• St. Mary's is now 7-3 all-time against Western New Mexico after a 79-67 win over the Mustangs back on December 4.
• The Mustangs won their first game of the season last Thursday, beating Sul Ross State 49-45.
• WNMU commits the fewest fouls of any team in the Lone Star Conference with 14.3 per game. The Rattlers are fourth with 15.5 a contest.
• In the first meeting, sophomore Lena Newby scored a season-high 12 points in helping the Rattlers to a 12-point win.
• The Mustangs have seven players from the state of Texas on their roster, but none are from the San Antonio area.
• In the first meeting, the Rattlers bench scored 37 points, the most in a game in the 2025-26 season.
On This Date: Feb. 21
• StMU is 6-7 in games played on Feb. 21 with a 2-3 record on the road.
• The Rattlers and Mustangs have never played on 2/21.
• StMU is 3-2 against current LSC teams on the 21st.
Penultimate Week: With four games remaining on the regular season schedule, the St. Mary's University Women's Basketball team sits in ninth place in the Lone Star Conference standings. The top eight make the LSC Tournament March 5-8 at the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas. The Rattlers are 2-1 this season against the remaining four teams on the docket, including 2-0 against this week's opponents in Sul Ross State and Western New Mexico.
First Time for Everything: For the first time in 2025-26, the Rattlers dropped a game when leading for the majority of the minutes when they lost a heartbreaker to Angelo State. Twice this season, StMU has come back to win when trailing through most of the game, beating both Oklahoma Baptist and Washburn in the StMU Thanksgiving Classic.
Take Two, They're Free: Senior Quezia Bertoni is shooting 86.3 percent from the free throw line (44-for-51), which ranks seventh on the St. Mary's single season list. Fellow senior Aina Maynou leads the team with a 92.0 percent (23-for-25), however she needs two more makes to be eligible for the record. The single season free throw percentage record at St. Mary's is 91.2 percent by Donna Smith from 1985-86 (52-of-57).
Sultana of Swats: Sophomore Raynne Malik has 48 blocked shots this season, which leads the Lone Star Conference, and ranks sixth on the St. Mary's single season charts. Added to the 56 swats she had a season ago, and Malik ranks fifth on the school's career charts with 104. Malik currently ranks 14th in the nation with her 2.18 blocked shots per game.
Triple or Nothing: Junior Allie Garcia has quietly amassed a streak of 17 straight games with at least one three-pointer. The Australian has scored in double figures in nine straight and in 10 of the last 11 games for the Rattlers. Garcia ranks second on the team, averaging 10.8 points per game, while Christin Callens leads the squad with 11.0 a night. Garcia's nine-game double figure scoring streak is tied for the third-longest in the Valerie Huizar era, knotting Callens, who has done it twice in her career.
Made To Be Broken: The Rattlers have seven student-athletes who have made 10 or more three-pointers this season, tying the school record for the most players with 10 makes or more. All 15 players on the roster have attempted at least one triple. The team has made 156 three-pointers, 19 more than their opponents (137). Last year's squad also had seven who made at least 10 from beyond the arc.
Takeaway: Sophomore Christin Callens entered last week with 10 steals on the year, and almost matched that total with six steals in the two home games. Callens recorded a career-high five thefts in the win over UT Permian Basin, and added one on Saturday against Angelo State. Callens is now third on the team with 16 swipes, trailing Raynne Malik (20) and Aina Maynou (18).
First Meeting vs WNMU: Four Rattlers scored in double figures, as the team scored a season-high 79 points on December 4. Christin Callens led with 14 points, while Aina Maynou scored 13 and both Allie Garcia and Lena Newby added a dozen. St. Mary's overcame a hot shooting first half from beyond the arc by Western New Mexico to win 79-67 and match the all-time record for wins to begin a season with six. The Mustangs hit 8-of-11 from beyond the arc in the first half, keeping the game close, but the Rattlers made adjustments at halftime to limit them to 3-for-7 from the three-point line in the second stanza and outscored WNMU 43-33 after the break for the 12-point victory.
First Meeting vs SRS: The entire roster for the Rattlers played at least five minutes, with 12 of the 13 grabbing at least one rebound, and 11 different players scored at least two points, led by Aina Maynou with 13. Both Christin Callens and Raynne Malik chipped in 10 points each, while Malik led the game with eight rebounds and four blocked shots. Sian Phipps came off the bench for a season-high six points and six rebounds, and she also blocked two shots, as the Rattlers swatted a season-best 10 shots. Cornelia Petersson dished out a game- and career-high four assists, as the Rattlers collected 17 assists on 23 made baskets.
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 leads the team with 35 triples this season, one more than Allie Garcia.
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.
League Leaders: St. Mary's leads the Lone Star Conference in blocked shots (4.3), ranking 24th in all of Division II. The Rattlers also rank second in the LSC in three-point field goal percentage (32.8) and are third in field goal percentage defense (35.8), defensive rebounds per game (26.8), and scoring defense (57.2).
Middle of the Pack: St. Mary's was selected to finish in the middle of the pack in the LSC 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.
