St. Mary's University limited the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith to just 29.4 percent shooting from the field and forced 26 turnovers, as the Rattlers finished the 2009-2010 regular season with a 53-42 win Saturday night at the Stubblefield Center. With the win the Rattlers reached the 20-win mark for the third straight year, just the second time in the program's history that has happened.
After trailing for most of the first half, the Rattlers went on an 8-0 run to end the period, giving them a 29-22 lead at the break. They immediately set about putting the game away, starting the second half with a 13-4 run that gave them a 42-26 advantage. The Lions never got closer than 10 points the rest of the way.
Kristin Williams (Jr., Kansas City) led the Rattlers with 11 points and 9 rebounds on 4-of-6 shooting from the field. Mallory Moeller (Jr., Seguin, Texas) also scored 11 points and pulled down 7 rebounds. Chastity Noble (Sr., El Paso, Texas) was the only other Rattler to score in double figures with 10 points. She also added 4 assists and 2 steals.
With the win the Rattlers improved to 20-7, while UAFS fell to 11-14. St. Mary's will be the number two seed in the upcoming Heartland Conference Tournament, which will be played at Bill Greehey Arena on March 4-6. The Rattlers will receive a first round bye and will play the winner of the University of Texas of the Permian Basin-Texas A&M International University game on Friday at 2:30 p.m.