Here Is How Saint Mary’s Will Take Home Conference Title Number Three
The Gaels are bound for Vegas and their eyes are on the prize: the conference title.
Saint Mary’s Women’s Basketball has earned the number four seed in the West Coast Conference (WCC) Tournament as they receive a first-round bye and will not play until the quarterfinals on Saturday, March 9th at 1 PM.
The Gaels finish the regular season with a record of 19–10, and a conference record of 12–6. The streak of seven straight 20-win win seasons looks to be extended to eight for Head Coach Paul Thomas, but the larger task has yet to be conquered.
This how the Gaels are going to bring a championship back to Moraga.
Don’t let the Fourth Spot Fool You
The Gaels played like a top three team in the conference all season long. Heading into the final two weeks of the regular season, SMC was in the third spot and in a position of contesting BYU for the second seed before dropping their final two road games of the season to LMU (69–56) and Pepperdine (77–72).
The 2018–19 Gaels put up win streaks of five and four games this season. They hung with #13 ranked CAL in pre-season losing 73–71 in overtime; the Gaels had a 15 point lead against CAL at one point. SMC may have gone 0–3 (Oregon State, Oregon, CAL) against ranked opponents, but scheduling tough in the pre-season just exemplifies the winning culture brought by Coach Thomas and how he develops his players.
Offense Wins Championships
Saint Mary’s lead the WCC all season long in field goal percentage (48.5%), scoring offense (76.3 points per game), defensive rebounds (31.6) and assists (16.2). Saint Mary’s just finished behind Gonzaga in 3-point FG% (37.6)
Nationally, the Gaels are ranked 7th in field goal percentage, 18th in 3-point fg%, and 29th in three-pointers made per game (8.3).
Gaels Gone Wild
Four Gaels are in the top ten in field goal percentage in the Conference; the most for any team in the top ten. Megan McKay leads the league at 61%, Sydney Raggio at number four (51.9%), Sam Simons at seven (51.2%), and Jasmine Forcadilla closing out the top ten at 48.2%.
The same four earned WCC Conference awards: McKay and Raggio with All-West Coast Conference first team honors, as Forcadilla was an honorable mention. Sam Simons received a spot on the Conference Freshmen Team.
Megan McKay became the first player in WCC history to lead the conference in field goal percentage in all four years of eligibility. Sydney Raggio collected her 1,000th rebound in the victory against Pacific, making her the fourth Gael in program history to collect 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.
Seniors Will Lead the Charge in Vegas
Jasmine Forcadilla was lost for the season when she suffered an injury to her left leg in the road loss to LMU. It is no secret that the Gaels will miss Forcadilla’s aggressiveness and leadership on the court, but there are still games to focus on.
Saint Mary’s will rely more heavily on their inside presence. Both Raggio and McKay have picked up numerous double-doubles on the season.
As defenders will look to stop the inside game quick, double teams and traps will benefit SMC. The Gaels are notorious for quick cuts to the basket and passing out to the perimeter in this situation. If the ball is moving effectively that signals the in and out scheme is working, which also means open three-point looks.
Saint Mary’s needs to play as they did on Senior Night against Pacific. Megan McKay closed out her regular season career with a 17 point, 14 rebound, and 1 block performance. Sydney Raggio had 14 points, 6 rebounds, 1 block and 1 steal. Carly Turner, another Senior, played big minutes off the bench with 8 points, 5 rebounds, 4 blocks, and two three-pointers.
The current projected lineup for Saint Mary’s is: Sam Simons, Emily Codding, Madeline Holland, Sydney Raggio, and Megan McKay
Deep Bench
Saint Mary’s has one of the deeper benches in the WCC. With Forcadilla out, that puts the Freshmen Sam Simons into the starting lineup. Simons has flourished in that role and did an incredible job early in the season when Emily Codding was out for a number of games.
Simons has played in every game this year. She has started in 10 games this season and has started the last seven. With Simons and Codding both in the lineup, the sixth and seventh spot on the bench seems to belong to Carly Turner and Freshmen Taycee Wedin.
With Saint Mary’s being the top ball movement and shooting team in the WCC, they need to start hot early. Turner (33.3%) and Wedin (39.6%)are the top three-point shooters on the bench, so look for designed plays when those two come into the game.
Depending on the matchup and play of the game, Claire Ferguson will be relied on in the forward/center position when Raggio or McKay come out.
Achilles Heel: TURNOVERS
Saint Mary’s has the worst turnover margin in the WCC at -6.4 and is tied with USF for most turnovers per game at 17.4. SMC may be the best passing team in the league, but for them to beat Gonzaga in the semi-finals they need to take care of that rock even MORE.
SMC will face either LMU or San Francisco on Saturday. They have to get through the quarterfinal opponent before they see Gonzaga in the semi-finals. The Gaels are 0–2 against Gonzaga.
If Saint Mary’s can continue to move the ball without Forcadilla’s presence, the three-pointers drop, and they take care of the ball…
Hold those March plans because the trophy is coming to Moraga and the Gaels are going dancing!
