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My story for the Collegian up at smccollegiansports.wordpress.com

In a wild quaterfinal match between Pepperdine and Saint Mary's, it was the Lady Gaels that withstood the barrage, and made key shots and free throws down the stretch to win the close contest, 67-63. After a three pointer by Pepperdine's Kelsey Patrick tied the game at 60 all with 2:20 left, Jasmine Smith buried a three pointer to give the Gaels a three point edge with 1:57 left. With the Waves down one, Lauren Bell, who was hot all game, had a midrange jumper that rattled in and out. After an ensuing foul, Jackie Nared converted one one of her two free throws to extend the Gaels lead to 2 with 59.5 seconds remaining. After each team made one more free throw, Skye Barnett (PEP) missed a shot that would have tied the game. Saint Mary's Danielle Mauldin grabbed the rebound and made both of her free throws to give the Gaels a 67 -63 win. After the game she called it one of the biggest rebounds in her life.

One big factor in the Gaels win was their performance from beyond the arc. Saint Mary's shot 56.3% from the three which was countered the strong shoot performance from Pepperdine's Lauren Bell, who went off for 30 points in the loss.

Coach Paul Thomas said that this was a "typical Pepperdine - Saint Mary's game" which is both "phyiscal and agressive." He said the strategy in the second half was to get to the free throw line, and in the end acknowledged that it was "a decisive factor." The Lady Gaels shot 22 free throws in the second half after shooting only eight in the first half. However, the Gaels only knocked down 60% and will need to improve that percentage if they want to win against Gonzaga.

Beating Gonzaga used to be impossible but after upsetting them on the road, and coming close to beating them at home, the Gaels aren't scared. Getting back point guard Alex Carbonel is both a huge strategical and emotional lift to the team. Carbonel has practiced this week and coach Thomas said they wanted to give her "a feel for the tournament" today, adding, "for us to advance we are going to need to have Alex play a really good game."

The Gaels will take on Gonzaga tomorrow at noon.