Saint Mary's College of California is a private Catholic college in Moraga, California. Established in 1863, it is affiliated with the Catholic Church and administered by the De La Salle Brothers. The college offers undergraduate and graduate programs with a total student count at under 4,000 as of 2018.
The Saint Mary's Gaels are the athletic teams that compete at Saint Mary's College of California in Moraga, California. The nickname applies to the college's intercollegiate NCAA Division I teams and to the school's club sports teams. Most varsity teams compete in the West Coast Conference.
The Saint Mary's Gaels men's basketball team represents Saint Mary's College in Moraga, California, competing in the West Coast Conference of the NCAA. The team plays home games in the University Credit Union Pavilion, capacity 3,500; it is one of the smaller gyms in the WCC. The current head coach is Randy Bennett, who is the school's all-time wins leader. The Gaels have appeared in twelve NCAA Tournaments—1959, 1989, 1997, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2019, 2022, and 2023.
Eric Schraeder is an American former basketball player. He played professionally in Sweden and Germany and was the 1999 West Coast Conference player of the year as a senior at Saint Mary's College.
The Saint Mary's Gaels men's soccer program represents Saint Mary's College of California in all NCAA Division I men's college soccer competitions. Founded in 1978, the Gaels compete in the West Coast Conference. The Gaels are coached by Adam Cooper, who has coached the program for 15 years. Saint Mary's play their home matches at Saint Mary's Stadium.
Paul Bernard Thomas is an American college basketball coach who was most recently the women's basketball head coach at Saint Mary's College of California. He previously served as head coach at Hamline and Cal Poly Pomona.
The 2014–15 Saint Mary's Gaels women's basketball team will represent Saint Mary's College of California in the 2014–15 college basketball season. It was head coach Paul Thomas's ninth season at Saint Mary's. The Gaels, members of the West Coast Conference, play their home games at the McKeon Pavilion. They finished the season 23–11, 13–5 in WCC play to finish in a tie for third place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the WCC women's basketball tournament to BYU. They were invited to the Women's National Invitation Tournament where they defeated Hawaii in the first round, Fresno State in the second round and Sacramento State in the third round before losing to UCLA in the quarterfinals.
The 2015–16 Saint Mary's Gaels men's basketball team represented Saint Mary's College of California during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. This was head coach Randy Bennett's fifteenth season at Saint Mary's. The Gaels competed in the West Coast Conference and played their home games at the McKeon Pavilion. They finished the season 29–6, 15–3 in WCC play to win a share of the WCC regular season conference championship. They defeated Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine to advance to the championship game of the WCC tournament where they lost to Gonzaga. As a regular season conference champion, and #1 seed in their conference tournament, who failed to win their conference tournament, they received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament. As a #2 seed, they defeated New Mexico State and Georgia to advance to the quarterfinals where they lost to Valparaiso.
The 2016–17 Saint Mary's Gaels men's basketball team represented Saint Mary's College of California during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. This was head coach Randy Bennett's 16th season at Saint Mary's. The Gaels competed in the West Coast Conference and played their home games at the McKeon Pavilion in Moraga, California. They finished the season 29–5, 16–2 in WCC play to finish in second place. In the WCC tournament, they defeated Portland and BYU before losing to Gonzaga in the championship game. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. As the No. 7 seed in the West region, they beat VCU in the first round before losing to No. 2-seeded Arizona in the second round.
The 2017–18 Saint Mary's Gaels men's basketball team represented Saint Mary's College of California during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by head coach Randy Bennett in his 17th season at Saint Mary's. The Gaels played their home games at the McKeon Pavilion in Moraga, California as members of the West Coast Conference. They finished the season 30–6, 16–2 in West Coast Conference play to finish in second place. As the No. 2 seed in the WCC tournament, they defeated Pepperdine in the quarterfinals before losing to BYU in the semifinals. They were one of the last four teams not selected for the NCAA tournament and as a result earned a No. 1 seed in the National Invitation Tournament where they defeated Southeastern Louisiana in the first round and Washington in the second round before losing to Utah in the quarterfinals.
The 2017–18 Saint Mary's Gaels women's basketball team represents Saint Mary's College of California in the 2017–18 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Gales, led by twelfth year head coach Paul Thomas, play their home games at the McKeon Pavilion and were members of the West Coast Conference. They finished the season 20–11, 13–5 in WCC play to finish in second place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the WCC women's tournament to Pacific. They received an automatic bid to the Women's National Invitation Tournament where they lost to New Mexico in the first round.
The 2018–19 Saint Mary's Gaels men's basketball team represents Saint Mary's College of California during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team is led by head coach Randy Bennett in his 18th season at Saint Mary's. The Gaels play their home games at the McKeon Pavilion in Moraga, California as members of the West Coast Conference. They finished the season 22-12, to finish in 2nd place. In the WCC Tournament, they defeated San Diego in the semifinals and beat Gonzaga in the championship to win the WCC Tournament. Therefore, they received a automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament where they lost in the first round to Villanova.
The 2018–19 Saint Mary's Gaels women's basketball team represents Saint Mary's College of California in the 2018–19 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Gales, led by thirteenth year head coach Paul Thomas, play their home games at the McKeon Pavilion and were members of the West Coast Conference. They finished the season 21–12, 12–6 in WCC play to finish in fourth place. They advanced to the semifinals of the WCC women's tournament where they lost to Gonzaga. They received an at-large bid to the Women's National Invitation Tournament where defeated Hawaii in the first round before losing to WCC member Pepperdine in the second round.
The 2019–20 Saint Mary's Gaels men's basketball team represented Saint Mary's College of California during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by head coach Randy Bennett in his 19th season at Saint Mary's. The Gaels played their home games at the University Credit Union Pavilion in Moraga, California as members of the West Coast Conference. They finished the season 26–8, 11–5 in WCC play to finish in a tie for third place. They defeated Pepperdine and BYU to advance to the championship game of the WCC tournament where they lost to Gonzaga. Despite being a virtual lock to receive an at-large bid to NCAA tournament, all postseason play was cancelled amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Megan McKay is a professional basketball player from Australia.
The 2020–21 Saint Mary's Gaels men's basketball team represented Saint Mary's College of California during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team were led by head coach Randy Bennett in his 20th season at Saint Mary's. The Gaels played their home games at the University Credit Union Pavilion in Moraga, California as members of the West Coast Conference. They finished the season 14-10, 4-6 to finish in 7th place. They defeated Pepperdine in the quarterfinals in the WCC Tournament before losing in the semifinals to Gonzaga. They received an invitation to the NIT where they lost in the first round to Western Kentucky.
The 2021–22 Saint Mary's Gaels men's basketball team represented Saint Mary's College of California during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team were led by head coach Randy Bennett in his 21st season at Saint Mary's. The Gaels played their home games at the University Credit Union Pavilion in Moraga, California, as members of the West Coast Conference (WCC). They finished the season 26–8, 12–3 in WCC play to finish in second place. As the No. 2 seed in WCC tournament, they defeated Santa Clara in the semifinals, before losing to Gonzaga in the Championship. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 5 seed in the East Region, where they defeated Indiana in the first round before losing to UCLA in the second round.
The 2022–23 Saint Mary's Gaels men's basketball team represented Saint Mary's College of California during the 2022–23 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by head coach Randy Bennett in his 22nd season at Saint Mary's. The Gaels played their home games at the University Credit Union Pavilion in Moraga, California, as members of the West Coast Conference (WCC). They finished the season 27–8, 14–2 in WCC Play to finish a tie for 1st place. They defeated BYU in the semifinals of the WCC Tournament before losing to Gonzaga in the championship game. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament where they defeated VCU in the First Round before losing to UConn in the Second Round.
The 2023–24 Saint Mary's Gaels men's basketball team represents Saint Mary's College of California during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team is led by head coach Randy Bennett in his 23rd season at Saint Mary's. The Gaels play their home games at the University Credit Union Pavilion in Moraga, California, as members of the West Coast Conference (WCC).
The 2023–24 Saint Mary's Gaels women's basketball team represents the Saint Mary's College of California in the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Gaels, led by first year coach Jeff Cammon. They play their homes games at University Credit Union Pavilion and are members of the West Coast Conference.
