The Collegian

Issue date: 1/26/10 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Courtesy of smcgaels.com Senior guard Jontelle Smith had 20 points and four assists in the Gaels 69-62 overtime victory on Saturday.

The Saint Mary's women's basketball team won its second straight game last Saturday afternoon, January 23rd, down in San Diego against the Toreros 69-66. The victory puts the Gaels in 2nd place in the West Coast Conference, with an overall record of 13-7 and a conference record of 4-1. The Gaels were lead by redshirt senior Jontelle Smith, who finished with 20 points and four 3-point baskets, which gives her 238 3-pointers made in her career.
The team began the game well, receiving a 3-point basket from Jontelle, and maintaining that lead until three minutes remained in the half. Playing well for the Gaels in the first half was junior Louella Tomlinson who posted 11 points, seven rebounds, and two blocks. Her first-half shooting percentage was perfect, hitting all four of her shots, and three of four from the free throw line.
The team achieved its largest lead of the game with 5:28 to play, up 23-17. The remaining minutes of the first half saw the Gaels wither away that lead to go into the half tied at 28-28.
The second half began dismally for the Gaels, to say the least. They found themselves on the wrong end of a 10-point lead, so Coach Thomas called a timeout to regroup. The Gaels produced well, scoring 11 unanswered points to regain the lead with just over 15 minutes to play. A jumper by USD's Sam Child gave the Toreros the lead, but redshirt sophomore Jasmine Smith stepped up and scored a bucket at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.
The first bucket of overtime byAshlee Smith '12 put the Gaels ahead 61-59, and the team never trailed the rest of the way. A couple of late jumpers by the Toreros put the Gaels on alert, but a pair of free throws from Jontelle secured the victory at 69-66.
"Today's win put us in a great position going into next week's home stand," head coach Paul Thomas told smcgaels.com. "The girls stepped up and did what they needed to do to get the victory, especially in the last 19 minutes of the game.  We definitely earned this win today because San Diego stayed tough the entire game."
In addition to Louella's 17-point, 12 rebound performance, the Gaels also received 18 points from Ashlee Smith. The double-double was Louella's 12th of the season.
The team will return home for two consecutive games against Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount, respectively. The first will be played Thursday January 28th at 7pm against the Pepperdine Waves, and the second against LMU on Saturday January 30th.

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