Two Key Road Games on Tap for Women's Basketball

This Week in Rattlers Basketball
Game #18 • Road Game #7 • at Texas A&M International • Thursday, February 5 • 5:30 p.m.
Notes & Connections
•    The Rattlers have more than a 2:1 record against Texas A&M International, winning 26 of the 38 meetings, though the Dustdevils have won six of the last eight.
•    Freshman Emily Buitron will be returning home to Laredo, and she will face classmate Cha'Cha Bustamante as graduates of Alexander HS.
•    TAMIU junior Aaliyah McMillan went to Steele HS in Cibolo, alongside Lena Newby. TAMIU senior Deannasty Smith is also a local product, prepping at Clark HS, while soph. Gabriella Gamboa went to McCollum HS. 
•    Both StMU soph. Raynne Malik and TAMIU soph. Olivia Bugros are from Ontario. London and St. Thomas are about 30 minutes apart in southern Ontario.
On This Date: Feb. 5
•    StMU is 7-7 in games played on Feb. 5 with a 2-5 record on the road.
•    StMU and TAMIU have never met on February 5.
•    The Rattlers are 2-3 against current LSC teams.
•    StMU is looking to snap a 2-game losing skid on 2/5.

Game #19 • Road Game #8 • at Texas A&M-Kingsville • Saturday, February 7 • 1 p.m.
Notes & Connections
•    Texas A&M-Kingsville holds a slight 33-29 lead in the all-time series that dates back to 1978. The Rattlers look to snap a four-game losing skid in Kingsville.
•    StMU senior Aina Maynou played two years for the Javelinas before transferring.
•    Brianna Vargas and TAMUK junior Endija Sedlina were teammates at Midland College.
•    TAMUK graduate student Evelyn Quiroz was on the Rattlers roster in 2024-25 but didn't play.
•    The Javelinas have a trio of San Antonio players in Ava Mitchell (Johnson HS), Jade Perez (Clark HS) and Renata Parga (Reagan HS).
•    TAMUK played in the Rattlers' Thanksgiving Classic, dropping both games to Washburn and Oklahoma Baptist, while StMU won both games.
On This Date: Feb. 7
•    StMU is 9-6 in games played on Feb. 7 with a 2-2 mark in road contests.
•    The two teams have never played on this date.
•    StMU is 2-1 against current LSC teams on this date, last losing in 2022.

STORYLINES

Busy Stretch: With the rescheduled games due to winter weather, the St. Mary's Women's Basketball team will play nine games in a 23-day stretch in February, beginning with games at Texas A&M International on Thursday and at Texas A&M-Kingsville on Saturday. The Rattlers then head to Austin for the Battle of the Saints on Monday before returning home.

Staring Down 600: Both senior Aina Maynou and sophomore Christin Callens are closing in on the 600th point of their careers. Maynou currently stands at 584 points, needing 16 to hit the milestone, while Callens has 595 points, five shy of 600. The pair are the active leading scorers on the team.

Doubled Up: Sophomore Raynne Malik became the first Rattler this season to record a double-double, scoring 11 points and grabbing 13 rebounds in the win over UT Dallas on Saturday. It is the sixth double-double of her career and the 11 points are a season high, while she tied her season high with the 13 boards.

Take Your Turn: Junior Allie Garcia became the first player to lead the team in scoring in three consecutive games, as the led with 16 against the Comets. Christin Callens (twice), and Quezia Bertoni 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 has done so five times, and Aina Maynou has led four times. Bertoni has led three times, and Imani Ivery and Brianna Vargas have done so once each.

Now Appearing: With her career-high tying five blocks against UT Dallas last week, sophomore Raynne Malik now has 42 swats on the season to rank 10th on the St. Mary's single season rankings. With one more, she will tie Paola Vasquez (1998-99) and Morgan Pullins (2012-13) for eighth on the list, and with two more, she will become the fifth player in St. Mary's history with 100 blocked shots.

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 eight times in 2025-26. The Rattlers lead the Lone Star Conference and rank 17th in the nation with 4.6 blocked shots per game.

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 seven games, and is 23-for-25 (.920) over that stretch. For the season, Bertoni is shooting 85.4 percent from the charity stripe, making 35 of her 41 attempts. Sophomore Christin Callens has made at least one free throw in 16 straight games, and would rank fourth right behind Bertoni in the Lone Star Conference with her 84.0 percentage (42-for-50), but she doesn't meet the minimum requirements of 2.5 makes per game.

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.

Crashing the Boards: Sophomore Raynne Malik ranks second in the Lone Star in defensive rebounds per game with 5.7 and fourth in total rebounds with 7.8 per game. She also ranks second in blocks per game with 2.47, which ranks eighth nationally.

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 118, 18 more than their opponents (100) through the first 17 games.

League Leaders: St. Mary's leads the Lone Star Conference in blocked shots (4.6), ranking 17th in all of Division II. The Rattlers also ranks second in the LSC in defensive rebounds per game (27.5) and field goal percentage defense (35.6), and are third in scoring defense (58.1).

Middle of the Pack: St. Mary's has been 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. 

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.