St. Mary’s ranked No. 22
Riding a seven-game winning streak, head coach Randy Bennett and his St. Mary’s Gaels received national recognition Monday. The Gaels were ranked No. 22 in the Associated Press poll.
St. Mary’s hadn’t been ranked since early in the 201920 season.
Four St. Mary’s players average between 9.9 points and 13.2 points per game, led by forward/center Matthias Tass at 13.2. He’s hitting 57.2% from the floor.
The other top scorers are forward Alex Ducas (11.1) and guards Logan Johnson (10.7) and Tommy Kuhse (9.9). Kuhse has connected on 46% of his 3-point tries.
As of Monday morning, the Gaels (19-4, 7-1 WCC) ranked sixth in the nation in scoring defense at 58.4 points per game.
St. Mary’s begins a challenging week at Santa Clara on Tuesday night. The Gaels will host San Diego on Thursday night before playing at No. 2 Gonzaga on Saturday evening.
Virginia 69, #7 Duke 68:
Reece Beekman hit a 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds remaining to give the visiting Cavaliers (15-9, 9-5 ACC) a stunner over the Blue Devils (19-4, 9-3).
Duke’s Paolo Banchero was held to a season-low nine points and his desperation 3-point try hit only the side of the backboard to end the game.
The Blue Devils had won five in a row.
WOMEN Stanford’s Brink, Cal’s Curry noted
Bay Area schools accounted for both of the Pac-12 honors awarded Monday. Stanford forward Cameron Brink was named the Player of the Week and Cal guard Jayda Curry the
Freshman of the Week.
It’s the second straight week and fourth time this season Brink has won the award. The sophomore had a combined 43 points and 22 rebounds in the Cardinal’s wins at UCLA and USC. She scored a career-high 26 points in an 83-57 rout over the Trojans on Sunday.
Curry scored 19 of her 21 points in the second half of the Bears’ 62-59 win at USC on Friday night. She scored a combined 33 points in two games. Curry, who leads the Pac-12 in scoring at 19.8 points per game, has won the Freshman of the Week award five times.
St. Mary’s 88, Santa Clara 81: At the Leavey Center, Ali Bamberger had 22 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Gaels (12-10, 6-5 WCC) over the Broncos (11-10, 5-6). Lindsey VanAllen led Santa Clara with 19 points.
#5 N.C. State 59, #11 Georgia Tech 48: Diamond Johnson scored 12 points as the host Wolfpack (21-3, 12-1 ACC) stifled the Yellow Jackets (18-5, 9-3).
#14 LSU 68, Mississippi 64: Khayla Pointer and Faustine Aifuwa had a triple-double and double-double, respectively, and the visiting Tigers (19-4, 7-3 SEC) held off the Rebels (18-5, 6-4). Pointer had 16 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Aifuwa had 20 points and 14 rebounds.
#21 Ohio State 61, Rutgers 57: Taylor Mikesell made six 3-pointers and scored 26 points as the host Buckeyes (17-4, 9-3 Big Ten) handed the Scarlet Knights (7-17, 0-12) their 10th straight loss.