BELLINGHAM, Wash. – A 16-2 second half run by No. 20 Valdosta State proved to be enough to hold the Saints' fourth quarter comeback attempt, 89-73, to conclude the 2017 Lynda Goodrich Classic, hosted by Western Washington.
 
The Saints (4-3) chipped away at the Trailblazers (4-1) lead in the fourth quarter, narrowing it down to 12; however, Valdosta State held on for the victory.
 
Valdosta State scored the first four points, before Elin Johansson made a move past her defender and scored in the paint to get SMU on the board. Hannah Reynolds tied the game at 4-4 before VSU knocked down multiple 3-pointers to go up 10-6. Jayla Russ responded with a 3-pointer to tie the game at 12-12 with 4:22 left in the quarter.
 
Reynolds found Rebekah Baugh for a 3-pointer and buckets by Johansson put SMU up 19-14 at the 2:43 mark. Valdosta State scored seven straight points before Makenna Schultz hit a runner in the lane to tie the game at 21-21 after the first quarter.
 
Back-to-back 3-pointers gave the Trailblazers the lead; however, baskets by Baugh and Simpson-Patu trimmed to score to 27-25 with 5:55 left in the quarter. Valdosta State used an 8-2 run to create some room, but the Saints responded with a Reynolds' 3-pointer to close the score to 35-30 with 2:46 remaining.
 
The Trailblazers closed out the half on a 9-2 run to take a 44-32 lead into halftime.
 
Valdosta connected on their first four attempts from beyond the arc to open the half on a 16-2 run. The Saints used defense to reignite the offense, holding Valdosta State without a point for nearly four minutes. During the drought, Saint Martin's scored 10 straight points to trim the lead to 60-44 with three minutes remaining.
 
The Trailblazers score seven of the next 11 points to carry a 67-48 lead into the final quarter of action.
 
The Saints and Trailblazers traded baskets in the early goings of the fourth with VSU holding a 77-59 lead with 6:14 left. Despite the Saints scoring 25 points in the fourth quarter, Valdosta State was able to withstand the attack and win 89-73.

"I felt like we competed with Valdosta State for a good portion of the game," said head coach Christy Martin. "We didn't back down and we played hard on each possession. We had lapses in communication and didn't do a great job of answering after their makes. However, we executed the game plan well. Our focus is on getting better every game during non-conference. Valdosta State is a very good team and I felt like we improved despite not having the outcome we desired."
 
Johansson finished with a team-high 22 points, along with four rebounds and two blocks. Simpson-Patu added 11 points and a team-high eight rebounds while Schultz recorded 11 points off the bench. Reynolds, Baugh and Russ combined for 19 points, eight rebounds nine assists.
 
As a team, Saint Martin's shot 29-for-63 (46.0 percent) from the field, 7-for-19 (36.8 percent) beyond the arc, and 8-for-15 (53.3 percent) at the line. The Saints finished with 29 rebounds, 15 assists on 14 turnovers, along with two blocks and five steals.
 
Johansson was named to the All-Tournament team after averaging 24.5 points per game, 6.5 rebounds per game, 1.5 blocks per game and shot 59.5 percent from the field.
 
Saint Martin's will begin conference play on November 30 at Western Oregon. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. with live stats and video links available on smusaints.com.