STOCKTON, Calif. – The Pacific women's basketball team put up three strong quarters defensively but were outscored 23-8 in the four quarter to drop the 60-55 decision to Saint Mary's Thursday night at the Alex G. Spanos Center.

At the helm of that defensive effort was sophomore Daria Nestorov who put up a career high six steals and helped force 17 Saint Mary's (11-5, 2-3 WCC) turnovers that limited the Gaels to 37 points through three quarters. Nestorov's six steals make her the first Tiger with five or more steals in a game since Liz Smith swiped five balls against Portland in March 2025.

At the offensive end the sophomore was efficient running the attack dishing out six assists to only two turnovers. Coming into the game, she was ranked 52nd in the nation in total assists with now 77 assists.

On the receiving end of many of Nestorov's passes was fellow sophomore Winner Bartholomew who led all scorers with 19 points (7-14 FG, 0-1 3pt, 5-5 FT), her second highest scoring total of the season. Beyond scoring she crashed the boards extremely well getting four of her five game rebounds on the offensive end.

Freshman Sophia Mindermann tallied Pacific's (7-9, 2-3 WCC) other standout offensive performance of the night, scoring 11 points off the bench on 4-for-11 shooting and 3-for-9 from deep. Coming into the game she was projected to hit 52 three-pointers, which would be the most since Smith's 56 during the 2022-23 season and only five from entering Pacific's list for the most in a single season.

Senior Sydney Ward turned in a balanced eight-point, eight rebound performance with a block and two steals. Ward's block tonight moved her past Gillian d'Hondt for seventh on the all-time blocks list and into a tie with Lanie Bebber for sixth place.

Sporting a top-100 ranking nationally coming into the game, junior Marina Radocaj added two more blocks to her season ledger. Now sitting with 22 blocks, she is just four blocks away from making her second appearance on the team's single-season list.

The team will take one of its two off days on Saturday before returning to the court a week from today in Malibu when the Tigers take on Pepperdine. Tipoff from Firestone Fieldhouse is set for 6 p.m. on ESPN+.

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