Saint Mary’s Gaels (15-14, 6-10 WCC) at Gonzaga Bulldogs (21-8, 13-3 WCC)
Spokane, Washington; Thursday, 9 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: Gonzaga hosts Saint Mary’s (CA) after Lauren Whittaker scored 20 points in Gonzaga’s 85-70 win against the Pacific Tigers.
The Bulldogs have gone 11-3 in home games. Gonzaga is second in the WCC in rebounding with 36.4 rebounds. Whittaker paces the Bulldogs with 10.2 boards.
The Gaels have gone 6-10 against WCC opponents. Saint Mary’s (CA) scores 60.0 points and has outscored opponents by 1.3 points per game.
Gonzaga makes 44.9% of its shots from the field this season, which is 6.1 percentage points higher than Saint Mary’s (CA) has allowed to its opponents (38.8%). Saint Mary’s (CA) averages 4.0 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.9 fewer made shots on average than the 5.9 per game Gonzaga gives up.
The matchup Thursday is the first meeting of the season for the two teams in conference play.
TOP PERFORMERS: Whittaker is averaging 19 points and 10.2 rebounds for the Bulldogs. Allie Turner is averaging 11 points over the past 10 games.
Abigail Shoff is scoring 9.6 points per game and averaging 3.9 rebounds for the Gaels. Ella Wedin is averaging 0.9 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Bulldogs: 8-2, averaging 75.7 points, 38.5 rebounds, 17.1 assists, 8.4 steals and 2.3 blocks per game while shooting 42.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 60.4 points per game.
Gaels: 4-6, averaging 62.0 points, 31.1 rebounds, 16.8 assists, 10.1 steals and 1.9 blocks per game while shooting 43.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 60.9 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.