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Saint Mary’s successfully sought revenge Nov. 9 when New Mexico came to Moraga  Image c/o Jed Jacobsohn/Associated Press By Drew Paxman Editorial Designer/Sports Writer Under the bright Thursday night lights in a packed University Credit Union Pavilion, the Gaels warmed up with only one thing on their mind: revenge against the team that broke their home winning streak a season ago, the New Mexico Lobos. The result was a 72-58 dominant victory for Saint Mary’s.
“I was ready to go from the jump,” said sophomore guard Aidan Mahaney, who scored a career high-tying 25 points in the game. The game was a blowout from the get-go, in large part due to Maheney’s phenomenal 21-point first half performance. “Whatever my team needs I’m here for it,” remarked Mahaney. “[Mickey] McConnell and the offensive coaches do a really good job at getting us some great sets. From there we just follow his execution and try to do it to the best of our ability.” Sophomore center Harry Wessels dominated in the paint, scoring a career high-tying 12 points and career high four offensive rebounds. Wessels believes the key to the team’s success is maintaining the team’s “gritty not pretty” motto. “We’re gonna be overlooked sometimes…and it’s not always gonna be easy but we’re just gonna go out there and try hard every time,” Wessels said. “We have guys that are extremely tough, and toughness is something we preach and pride ourselves on everyday.” Wessels not only displayed physical toughness throughout his 14 minutes of action, but mental toughness as well. With 8:46 left to play, Wessels picked up his fourth foul. Despite having a career-day up to that point, the sophomore center knew he had to make a change. “It’s just the focus on details as far as…showing the refs you’re playing clean,” he said. “You think about it a little bit–cleaning up. But you still got to go out there and play hard.” Since their 72-58 win over the Lobos, the Gaels have fumbled into a three game losing streak on the road, losing their Top 25 AP Poll ranking. The season is still young, though, and the Gaels made improvements at home with a win against Davidson on Friday, Nov. 24. The Gaels look to continue to make improvements against Utah on Monday, Nov. 27.
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Gaels beat Stanislaus State 107 to 28 By Val Hill Sports Editor The Gaels came out strong right out of the gate against Stanislaus State, practically beating the Warriors in the warmup. The energy of the crowd fueling into the Gaels, giving off a dominating presence. Even though the Gaels were predicted to win, they didn’t let that get to the players' heads.
Warriors gave the Gaels most of their free points through fouls and an overly confident defense. The Warriors tried to force the Gaels to speed up and to try and get the upper hand. And they did for a few baskets, but the Gaels quickly locked in and took control of the game. One player that truly stood out among the rest for the Gaels was Mason Forbes. Forbes is a grad student who was a redshirt last season and did not play. Forbes has made such an impact on the court that I could see him being an all season starter. Another outstanding player in that game was the hometown hero, Aiden Mahaney, a returning all star who set a new personal record for most points in a game. During that game Mahaney proved that he wasn’t just a second half player, but an all in player. From making almost all of his three point shots, to being an all around defensive and offensive player, Aiden was setting the tone for the rest of the season. Since the Gaels were doing so well that game, head coach Randy Bennett decided to let everyone have some game minutes. Players such as Rory Hawke, Kevin Gad, and Cade Bennett finally made their debuts, all of which did not play last season due to redshirting. Freshman Jordan Ross got on the court and was starting to make himself known that game as well. All eyes were on the Gaels to have a total shutout and they provided. The Gaels only lost their momentum for a brief moment, letting the Warriors get 9 turnovers. But that made the Gaels not only fight back, but completely dominate the game. And with this game the Gaels set a new school record for most points in a game since 2010. Thus the end game score was 107 Gaels and 28 for the Warriors. After years of sweeping the competition at the conference championship race, BYU’s departure from the WCC has left a notable impact on the racing field. By Caledonia Buchanan American Journalism Student For five consecutive years, BYU’s women’s cross country team has swept the competition and won the
Since they were reigning champions for years, leaving the conference meant leaving the number one spot available in a way that it hasn't been in years. “There was a dramatic change not having BYU in the conference,” said St. Mary’s women’s XC coach Marty Kinsey. “Last year they placed 10 runners in the top 20. And 7 of the 15 ‘All WCC’ accolades went to BYU,” he added. “The race definitely felt more open with BYU leaving the conference, and like every school had a chance to win,” said SMC senior cross country runner Emily Field. “The focus was no longer just on how much BYU was winning by; there was a tight race between first and second, and the other team positions were up for grabs,” said Stanziano. Whereas previously, when BYU was still in the WCC; “Having that many talented runners in a team front loads the results and makes for an uneventful outcome,” said senior Molly Dreher from the St Mary’s team when asked about previous years competing with BYU. “You don't want one team to sweep every year,” Dreher added. “BYU leaving had a profound impact [in a positive way] on the student athlete experience. They used to take it out really fast and it would stretch out the field in ways that made it more of a time trial for them and a barn burner for the rest of the field.” Kinsey said. BYU competed in its first Big 12 conference championship race on October 28 of this year, and the women did in fact secure the winning spot in their debut race with the conference, finishing with five of their runners placing in the overall top ten according to the Big 12 championship recap. “The competition field without BYU created more diversity among all-conference runners.” Stanziano commented ini reference to the new competition field and the room for runners to improve and secure higher placements now that BYU is no longer in the WCC. “I’m happy they are gone, I don’t think they would have dominated the conference forever but it’s nice to have variety and give athletes a goal of winning conference as a team.” Dreher remarked in regards to how the change has impacted athletes and teams and their ability to score higher as a team. “I’m a huge supporter of not having them in the field. BYU doesn’t resemble any school or team in the WCC. They have nearly unlimited funds and tuition there is about $6,000 vs. a WCC average of about $55,000. Having them in the conference was like putting a whale in a fishbowl.” Kinsey added. In this year’s WCC championship race, Portland took home the winning title, with Gonzaga in second and our very own Saint Mary’s taking third. This is an improvement from the 2022 season’s 6th place finish, and outstanding performances from the team secured their spot. “We did great, an all around amazing performance that got us third!” Dreher said. With BYU gone, “I feel this made for a more exciting outcome, particularly our awesome third place finish.” Stanziano remarked. “Our team was able to implement a rewarding team strategy as well that normally is hard when the pace is that hard from the start. We fared well.” Kinsey remarked in regards to SMC’s team performance at the race. Overall, the departure of BYU certainly left spots open and available for teams to shuffle and claim, and made it possible for the athletes to strive to win as a team, instead of having the expectation that BYU would take the title again. “This year there was a much better representation for All-WCC awards with USF, SMC, Portland, Gonzaga, all earning multiple honors and SCU with one as well, it wasn’t a BYU takes all moment which is better for the conference and student athlete’s experience.” said Kinsey. The Saint Mary’s women had a remarkable championship race, and continued on to race at the NCAA West regionals competition on Saturday November 11th, with the team finishing 17th out of 39 teams. Stanziano led the Gaels with a 44th place finish, and achieved her second fastest ever 6k time. Followed by Sophomore Kaylee Barnes and Senior Molly Dreher, the Gaels had three athletes finish within the top 100 racers for the first time in program history. “Our team is really strong this year so it will be exciting to build on in the future.” Field remarked. |
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May 2024
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