OLYMPIA, Wash. – Led by a 20-point performance from Makenna Schultz and a double-double for Saniah Simpson-Patu, the Saints defeated in-town rival 77-72 on Thursday.
 
The Saints started the game off by scoring the first seven points on baskets from Elin Johansson and a 3-pointer by Rebekah Baugh. The Evergreen State College battled back to the game at 9-9 going into the first media timeout.
 
The Geoducks' lead stretched to five after a basket from beyond the arc from Cayla Jones. Makenna Schultz provided the Saints a scoring spark off the bench, drilling a three to tie the game at 14-14. TESC used a 5-0 run to take a 19-16 lead after the first quarter.
 
The Saints started the second quarter with buckets from Schultz and freshman Saniah Simpson-Patu to regain the lead at 24-20 with 8:27 left in the half. After three made free throws and a jumper for Evergreen State, the match was tied up at 25-25 at the 5:43 mark. The Saints responded with back-to-back layups from Simpson-Patu and Jayla Russ to retake the lead before extending to 37-31 lead on a Schultz 3-pointer with 1:25 left in the half. The Geoducks closed out the half with back-to-back 3-pointers to lock the score at 37-37 going into halftime.
 
SMU took the lead just eight seconds into the third quarter on a Schultz's 3-pointer, before the Geoducks tied the game at 41-41 and 43-43. Baugh stepped up three points to give SMU a 46-43 lead at the 7:01 mark in the quarter. Baugh hit another shot from beyond the arc and Shyler Sullivan made a jumper to extend the lead to 51-47 with 2:44 left. The Saints closed out the quarter on an 8-0 run and carried a 59-49 lead into the final period.
 
The Saints extended their lead to the largest of the night at 68-55 on a layup for Simpson-Patu with 5:19 left in the game. The Geoducks quickly rebounded, cutting the lead to 68-64 with 3:19 left. The Saints sealed the victory at the free throw line, hitting seven of their eight attempts in the final minutes, winning 77-72.
 
Schultz led the game in scoring with 20 points, including 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. Simpson-Patu recorded an impressive 14-point, 13-rebound double-double. Baugh and Johansson each reached the double-digit mark in scoring with 12 and 14 points respectively.
 
As a whole, SMU shot 26-for-56 from the floor (46.4 percent) and 9-of-24 from deep (37.5 percent). The Saints went 16-of-24 at the line, good enough for 66.7 percent.
 
The Saints next game is an exhibition against Pacific University at home on Nov 8 at 7:00 p.m. Live stats and video will be available on smusaints.com.