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Men's Basketball

The men's basketball team went 1-1 this past week losing to Oklahoma Wesleyan University (93-46) but beating Ottawa University (75-72). On Wednesday, the Spires struggled to get anything going as they shot 26.7% from the field while the Eagles shot 52.9%. Saint Mary then rebounded to upset the Ottawa Braves on Saturday, winning 75-72. Cam Southern, Joey Schultz, and Deshaud St. Martin all scored in double figures as St. Martin recorded a double-double, scoring 24 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. The Spires finished the season at 9-19 overall and 5-17 in the KCAC. Saint Mary averaged 70 points per game and shot 41% in their 28 games this season.

Women's Basketball

The University of Saint Mary Women's Basketball team went 2-0 this week as they beat Oklahoma Wesleyan University (62-51) and Ottawa University (84-81). On Wednesday, Jerrica Johnson scored 21 points as the entire team held OKWU to 33% shooting from the field en route to a 62-51 win. On Saturday, after trailing most of the game, Saint Mary sparked a late scoring run highlighted by shooting from Alanis Delgado and Daija Planas to eventually escape with an 84-81 win. Sims recorded a double-double scoring 21 points and grabbing ten rebounds in the win. Saint Mary is set to take on Tabor College in Round one of the KCAC Tournament at 6 p.m. on Thursday in Hillsboro, Kansas.

Baseball

The Spires went 2-2 this past week with wins over William Woods University (6-3) and Evangel University (8-6) but lost to Concordia University (9-1) and William Penn University (8-3). Against William Woods, Brendan Roop went 2-3 from the plate with an RBI, while Jordan McClellan had two RBIs in the 6-3 win. Later that day against Evangel, Jacob Castaneda earned his second save of the day while Francisco Villarreal went 2-3 with two RBIs in the 8-3 win. On Sunday against Concordia, McClellan went 1-2 from the plate with an RBI, but late errors by the Spire allowed the Bulldogs to pull away, resulting in a 9-1 loss. Then, in the weekend finale against William Penn, the errors continued to be a problem for Saint Mary, as the Statesmen won 8-3. Up next, the Spires will host Benedictine College at 2 p.m. on Tuesday in Leavenworth, Kansas.

Softball

Saint Mary went 2-1 on the week, beating Cottey College (6-3) in a single game and splitting with Benedictine (9-8) (15-3). On Wednesday against Cottey, Megan Brinkman went 3-4 from the plate, hitting four RBIs in the 6-3 win. On Saturday against Benedictine in Game one, the Spires sparked a late-game comeback as Alexis McDaniel hit a walk-off two-run double to win it for USM, 9-8. The Spires were unable to recover from two early home runs by the Ravens in the second game as the Ravens ran away with the 15-3 win. Up next, Saint Mary will travel to play Park University for a doubleheader at 1 p.m. on Wednesday in Parkville, Missouri.

Men's Lacrosse

Men's Lacrosse started their season with a loss on Saturday to William Penn University, losing 30-1. The Statesmen started fast and never looked back as the Spires struggled to get anything going. Landry Murley recorded 20 saves, while Carter Hale scored the Spire's only goal in the fourth quarter. Up Next, the Spires will travel to play Benedictine College at 7 p.m. on Thursday in Atchison, Kansas.

Women's Lacrosse

The women's lacrosse team started their season with a win in an exhibition matchup against the University of Kansas this weekend, winning 18-12. Paige Ecton scored six goals for Saint Mary on 14 shots, while Victoria Naeger recorded 15 saves. Hailey Pettis also added four goals of her own, and five other Spires had a goal or more. Up next, the Spires will host the Kansas State Wildcats for an exhibition game at 4 p.m. on Saturday at Charles J. Berkel Memorial Stadium.

Wrestling

The University of Saint Mary Men's Wrestling team competed in the KCAC Championships this weekend in the Ryan Sports Center. Freddie Barajas took first place in the 130-weight class, and Brody Gee took second in the 120-weight class. The team finished in third place overall out of the seven KCAC teams. With Barajas' win, he qualifies for the NAIA National Tournament that is set to begin on March 3 in Wichita, Kansas. The women's wrestling team hosted Missouri Valley College for their final home dual of the year on Thursday, losing 33-13. Alyssa Cordova got things going for Saint Mary, opening the night with a win by tech fall in the 101 weight class. The Spires would drop the next three matches, one via fall and two by tech fall. Araya Boday put Saint Mary within five points after winning by tech fall in the 130 weight class. Missouri Valley won the next three matches after Boday's and built a 28-8 lead over Saint Mary. The last win of the night came in the 170 weight class by Avery Ackerman, who rallied after going down 2-0 and finished the match with a pin at the end of the first period. The Spires will finish the regular season at the KCAC Championship Tournament on Saturday in York, Nebraska. 

Indoor Track and Field

The men's and women's teams had six runners reach NAIA qualifying marks on Friday. Brig Merritt ran an 8:35.29 in the 3000m event and finished first in the race. Emad Bashir-Mohammed's mile time of 4:17.97 was an NAIA A standard, and Liam Neidig finished the 1000m run with a time of 2:29.99 which was also an NAIA A standard. Riley Hiebert achieved an NAIA A mark with a time of 2:59.53 in the 1000m event, her time was also good enough to finish second at the meet. Running a mile time of 5:05.60, Maddie Walter-Sherretts reached the NAIA A mark in the event and finished third overall. Katherine Madsen ran a 10:30.37 in the 3000m distance run, her time was fast enough to earn an NAIA B standard and a second-place finish.

eSports

The University of Saint Mary eSports team hosted their weekly local Super Smash Bros. tournament on Wednesday, with four total players entering the competition. Round one seemed to be the most exciting round of the event. Jake Lorenzen and Mitch Medford squared off against each other and it seemed like Lorenzen had secured a win after taking the first two games. However, Medford was determined to make a comeback and rattled off three straight wins to remain on the winner's side of the bracket. Kirk Zielinski won the other opening-round match convincingly by a score of 3-0. In round two, Zielinski continued his winning trend and beat Medford in another 3-0 victory, having not lost a game in two straight matches. This resulted in a round-one rematch between Lorenzen and Medford to see who would take on Zielinski in the final round of play. Medford made things easier on himself this time around, leaving no room for Lorenzen to make things close, winning 3-1. Zielinski eventually won in the final round over Medford for the second time in the tournament and was crowned Grand Champion for this week's tournament without surrendering one point to his opponents. Up Next, the Spires will take on Ottawa University in Overwatch 2 at 7:30 p.m. on Monday in Leavenworth, Kansas. The winner of Monday's matchup will sit atop the standings in the KCAC for Overwatch 2.