Moraga, CA - The Saint Mary's women's basketball team came back from a 10-point deficit to win its final home game of the season, 60-54, over San Diego on Saturday.  Senior Jontelle Smith, playing in her final game at McKeon Pavilion, posted a team-high 18 points and was two rebounds shy of a double-double. Jo. Smith's 18 points puts her nine points away from the 1,500-point mark.  Louella Tomlinson recorded her 18^th double-double of the season with 14 points and 13 rebounds, while adding three blocks to regain ownership of the NCAA Division-I career blocks record.   

"We came back out and we played much better together in the second half.  We made some spectacular plays at the end that gave us some momentum and got us in the fast break mode.  The team did what they needed to do today and in the long run, these close games are going to help us by giving us the experience to overcome these tough situations," said head coach Paul Thomas.

Senior Jontelle Smith started her senior night off right, draining her signature 3-point basket to give the Gaels the early 3-0 lead.  USD's Sam Child quickly answered back with a 3-pointer and jumper to put the Toreros up by two (5-3) with 18:58 on the clock.  

The Gaels regained the lead on a 3-point basket by Louella Tomlinson (8-5) before USD took the lead back a minute later on a layup by Dominique Conners with 14:17 to play. 

A 15-6 run by the Toreros put USD up by 10 with 6:54 left in the half, but within the next two minutes, the Gaels put together an 11-0 run of their own to get within one (27-28). 

It was a battle of the free throws in the final three minutes of the half as Tomlinson knocked down 5-of-6 from the charity stripe to get the Gaels up one (32-31) before USD closed out the half 2-for-3 from the line for a 33-32 Torero lead at halftime.

Ashlee Smith and Jo. Smith combined for 12 points in a 14-4 SMC run to start the first half to go up 12 (48-36) with 12:58 to play.  The Gaels never looked back, owning the lead the rest of the half. 

USD got within three with 1:12 left in the game on a 3-pointer by Woodrow, but the Gaels knocked down 3-of-6 from the free throw line in the final minute of the game to solidify the 60-54 final.

Free throws and strong defense in the second half proved to be a winning combination for the Gaels as they knocked down 18-of-22 from the line, while USD only went to the line four times, knocking down two.  SMC held the Toreros to a 26.5 shooting percentage in the second half after they knocked down five 3-pointers and shot 46.5 percent in the first. 

Tomlinson had a quiet first half, but came alive in the second, recording six points, eight rebounds, and three blocks in the final 20 minutes.  Tomlinson is battling with Michigan State's Allyssa DeHaan for the NCAA D-I career blocks record as Tomlinson's three blocks puts her temporarily back in control of the record.  DeHaan stands at 487 with a game tomorrow afternoon and Tomlinson stands at 489 career blocks until next week.

With the win, the Gaels improve to 19-8 overall, 10-2 in the WCC.  SMC posted an impressive 11-3 record at home in the friendly confines of McKeon Pavilion.  San Diego falls to 14-12 overall, 6-6 in conference.   

The Gaels hit the road for their final two conference games of the season before heading to Las Vegas, NV for the Zappos.com West Coast Conference Championships.  On Thursday, February 25, the Gaels take on Pepperdine at 7:00 p.m. and two days later they travel to Loyola Marymount to face the Lions at 2:00 p.m.