Friday, October 30
Moraga, CA
6:00 PM
Saint Mary's College of California
vs
UC Santa Cruz
Photo by: Saint Mary's Athletics / Tod Fierner
10/28/2026 3:42:00 PM | Women's Basketball
MORAGA, Calif. - The Saint Mary's women's basketball team will embark on its final exhibition contest ahead of the 2026-27 season, hosting UC Santa Cruz on Friday, October 30 at 6 p.m. Tickets for Friday's game as well as the 2026-27 season are available online and can be purchased at smcgaels.com/tickets.
Head coach Jeff Cammon and the Gaels will welcome the Banana Slugs to UCU Pavilion for the first time in their series history Friday night, as the Gaels look to put their finishing touches on their preseason slate before kicking off the regular season at Stanford on November 4.
GAME COVERAGE AND INFORMATION
WBB | Saint Mary's vs. UC Santa Cruz | UCU Pavilion
Moraga, Calif. | Oct. 30 | 6 p.m.
Live Stats | Tickets
GAELS OUTLOOK
Roster Breakdown…
Saint Mary's will enter its 2026-27 campaign with a 15-player squad including six returners and nine newcomers. Highlighting the returning class for the Gaels is All-WCC Honorable Mention selection Abigail Shoff who enters her third year in Moraga. Shoff came over to Saint Mary's after starting her career at Long Beach State with current head coach Jeff Cammon. Since bringing her over, Shoff has averaged over eight points per game including a career high 9.4 points a season ago.
Also returning for Saint Mary's are its best perimeter shooters in the Wedin sisters, who continue their long lineage with Saint Mary's women's basketball after elder sister Taycee Wedin was a five-year star for the Gaels from 2018-2023. Addi Wedin led the Gaels in three-point shooting last season, hitting 34 on the year at a team-high 43%. Ella Wedin and Shoff rounded out the three-point shooting a season ago as Cammon returns his top-three perimeter shooters for the 2026-27 season.
Notable newcomers for the Gaels include transfers Lihi Azouri and Niveya Henley. Azouri averaged double-figures as a true freshman for Southeastern Louisiana last season while Henley will bring a wealth of experience as a graduate transfer after spending four seasons at Furman and the 2025-26 campaign at Big Sky Champions Idaho. True freshman and 2026 Arizona Gatorade Player of the Year Audrey Bhesania also arrives in Moraga, highlighting the team's seven-player freshman class here in 2026.
International Flair…
Saint Mary's basketball is best known for its Australian pipeline, dating back to 2001, and along with two Aussies to this year's squad are five additional international prospects from five different countries. Emily Foy and midseason arrival Lucy Aherne represent the land Down Under while Azouri hails from Israel, Nina Klep from Slovenia, Agata Wlaz from Poland, Irene Andreou from Greece and Evelyn Tounkara from Canada. Of the seven international players, five come to Moraga as true freshmen as Cammon will lean on this group for key production throughout the entire 2026-27 season.
Familiar Faces Back in Town…
Head coach Jeff Cammon enters his fourth season at the helm but brings in some familiar faces to this year's coaching staff. Former players Hannah Rapp and Kennedy Johnson will get their first taste of college basketball from the coaching perspective while former Santa Clara head coach Michael Floyd joins the staff as the second lead assistant behind Kevin Adams.
Rapp was a four-year standout for the Gaels from 2020-2024, where she played in 106 games while combining for over 400 points scored on 43% shooting. Her breakout season in Moraga came during the 2022-23 campaign, when she averaged seven points and over five rebounds per game over a career-high 31 games played. Rapp concluded her collegiate career in 2025 as a graduate transfer at Santa Clara before making her professional debut for the Australian NBL1 Waverley Falcons in 2026.
Johnson spent her time in Moraga as a graduate transfer for the 2024-25 season and was a key two-way player for the Gaels. During her lone season, she led the team with 12 points and nearly six rebounds per game and went on to be named the 2025 WCC Newcomer of the Year, just the third conference Newcomer of the Year in program history. Johnson also went over to Australia to start her professional career after graduation, where she played for the Hills Hornets in the NBL1. The combination of coaching experience and player relations will prove pivotal for a young Gaels squad here in 2026.
Series History…
Saint Mary's and UC Santa Cruz have only met three times in their series history, with the Gaels heading into Friday a perfect 3-0 over the Slugs. Saint Mary's swept the regular season series during the 1981-82 season before winning by a program-record 81 points in 1983's matchup, scoring 105 points in what was then known as McKeon (UCU) Pavilion.
ABOUT THE BANANA SLUGS (0-0, 0-0 Coast to Coast)
UC Santa Cruz will enter the 2026-27 season with a new leader at the helm, as Scott Davis was appointed interim head coach back in August. Davis has had successful coaching stints with then NAIA program Dominican and current NCAA DII side Cal Poly Pomona and also has ties to Saint Mary's as a member of the 2001 NCAA Tournament coaching staff. That Gaels squad was inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame class of 2022 after winning a program-record 26 games and securing the program's first ever NCAA Tournament victory, defeating Texas 68-64 in the first round. UC Santa Cruz is coming off a 12-12 campaign in 2026 which included a first-round exit in the Coast-to-Coast Conference Tournament. They will look for their first postseason win since the 2025 C2C Tournament after knocking off Mount Mary in the quarterfinals.
Single-game tickets for the 2026-27 season are available online at smcgaels.com/tickets and season ticket packages for the women's basketball season can be purchased HERE.
Be sure to follow your Gaels on Facebook, Instagram, and X to get all the latest Saint Mary's athletics updates and information.
#GaelsRise
Head coach Jeff Cammon and the Gaels will welcome the Banana Slugs to UCU Pavilion for the first time in their series history Friday night, as the Gaels look to put their finishing touches on their preseason slate before kicking off the regular season at Stanford on November 4.
GAME COVERAGE AND INFORMATION
WBB | Saint Mary's vs. UC Santa Cruz | UCU Pavilion
Moraga, Calif. | Oct. 30 | 6 p.m.
Live Stats | Tickets
GAELS OUTLOOK
Roster Breakdown…
Saint Mary's will enter its 2026-27 campaign with a 15-player squad including six returners and nine newcomers. Highlighting the returning class for the Gaels is All-WCC Honorable Mention selection Abigail Shoff who enters her third year in Moraga. Shoff came over to Saint Mary's after starting her career at Long Beach State with current head coach Jeff Cammon. Since bringing her over, Shoff has averaged over eight points per game including a career high 9.4 points a season ago.
Also returning for Saint Mary's are its best perimeter shooters in the Wedin sisters, who continue their long lineage with Saint Mary's women's basketball after elder sister Taycee Wedin was a five-year star for the Gaels from 2018-2023. Addi Wedin led the Gaels in three-point shooting last season, hitting 34 on the year at a team-high 43%. Ella Wedin and Shoff rounded out the three-point shooting a season ago as Cammon returns his top-three perimeter shooters for the 2026-27 season.
Notable newcomers for the Gaels include transfers Lihi Azouri and Niveya Henley. Azouri averaged double-figures as a true freshman for Southeastern Louisiana last season while Henley will bring a wealth of experience as a graduate transfer after spending four seasons at Furman and the 2025-26 campaign at Big Sky Champions Idaho. True freshman and 2026 Arizona Gatorade Player of the Year Audrey Bhesania also arrives in Moraga, highlighting the team's seven-player freshman class here in 2026.
International Flair…
Saint Mary's basketball is best known for its Australian pipeline, dating back to 2001, and along with two Aussies to this year's squad are five additional international prospects from five different countries. Emily Foy and midseason arrival Lucy Aherne represent the land Down Under while Azouri hails from Israel, Nina Klep from Slovenia, Agata Wlaz from Poland, Irene Andreou from Greece and Evelyn Tounkara from Canada. Of the seven international players, five come to Moraga as true freshmen as Cammon will lean on this group for key production throughout the entire 2026-27 season.
Familiar Faces Back in Town…
Head coach Jeff Cammon enters his fourth season at the helm but brings in some familiar faces to this year's coaching staff. Former players Hannah Rapp and Kennedy Johnson will get their first taste of college basketball from the coaching perspective while former Santa Clara head coach Michael Floyd joins the staff as the second lead assistant behind Kevin Adams.
Rapp was a four-year standout for the Gaels from 2020-2024, where she played in 106 games while combining for over 400 points scored on 43% shooting. Her breakout season in Moraga came during the 2022-23 campaign, when she averaged seven points and over five rebounds per game over a career-high 31 games played. Rapp concluded her collegiate career in 2025 as a graduate transfer at Santa Clara before making her professional debut for the Australian NBL1 Waverley Falcons in 2026.
Johnson spent her time in Moraga as a graduate transfer for the 2024-25 season and was a key two-way player for the Gaels. During her lone season, she led the team with 12 points and nearly six rebounds per game and went on to be named the 2025 WCC Newcomer of the Year, just the third conference Newcomer of the Year in program history. Johnson also went over to Australia to start her professional career after graduation, where she played for the Hills Hornets in the NBL1. The combination of coaching experience and player relations will prove pivotal for a young Gaels squad here in 2026.
Series History…
Saint Mary's and UC Santa Cruz have only met three times in their series history, with the Gaels heading into Friday a perfect 3-0 over the Slugs. Saint Mary's swept the regular season series during the 1981-82 season before winning by a program-record 81 points in 1983's matchup, scoring 105 points in what was then known as McKeon (UCU) Pavilion.
ABOUT THE BANANA SLUGS (0-0, 0-0 Coast to Coast)
UC Santa Cruz will enter the 2026-27 season with a new leader at the helm, as Scott Davis was appointed interim head coach back in August. Davis has had successful coaching stints with then NAIA program Dominican and current NCAA DII side Cal Poly Pomona and also has ties to Saint Mary's as a member of the 2001 NCAA Tournament coaching staff. That Gaels squad was inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame class of 2022 after winning a program-record 26 games and securing the program's first ever NCAA Tournament victory, defeating Texas 68-64 in the first round. UC Santa Cruz is coming off a 12-12 campaign in 2026 which included a first-round exit in the Coast-to-Coast Conference Tournament. They will look for their first postseason win since the 2025 C2C Tournament after knocking off Mount Mary in the quarterfinals.
Single-game tickets for the 2026-27 season are available online at smcgaels.com/tickets and season ticket packages for the women's basketball season can be purchased HERE.
Be sure to follow your Gaels on Facebook, Instagram, and X to get all the latest Saint Mary's athletics updates and information.
#GaelsRise
Players Mentioned
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