"We won the conference championship. That's a big deal. Four in a row, in fact. The Gaels and Zags shared the 2023 regular-season crown before Saint Mary's won outright titles back-to-back the next two seasons. This one seemed like a reach on Jan. 31, after the Zags beat the Gaels 73-65 at Spokane to generate a two-game lead on them in the standings."
"I think it's a testament to the consistency of the program and coach Bennett. Winning four in a row is hard. We were two games back and we never said it out loud, but we knew to get back in this position we'd have to win out."
"The Gaels (27-4, 16-2) earned their first Quad 1 victory and completed an unblemished 17-0 home schedule, which stretched their ongoing program record to 26 consecutive victories at University Credit Union Pavilion. They improved their head-to-head record against the Zags to 6-5 over the past four seasons."
Saint Mary's defeated No. 9 Gonzaga 70-59 in their final regular-season meeting as West Coast Conference rivals, securing the WCC regular-season championship for the fourth consecutive year. After trailing by two games in late January, the Gaels won eight straight games in February to claim the outright title. Sophomore guard Mikey Lewis led the effort with a career-high 31 points. Saint Mary's improved to 27-4 overall and 16-2 in conference play, earning their first Quad 1 victory and maintaining an unblemished 17-0 home record. The Gaels improved their head-to-head record against Gonzaga to 6-5 over the past four seasons and will enter the WCC tournament as the No. 2 seed.
Read at www.mercurynews.com
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