BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Saint Martin's trimmed Western Washington's lead down to three in the fourth quarter; however, the Vikings fought off the Saints to earn the 69-58 victory.
 
The Saints' starters scored 49 of the Saints' 58 points, as Sara Bowen as the only player off the bench with points at nine. Saint Martin's cut into a double-digit lead multiple times throughout the night, but were unable to complete the comeback and fell on the road.
 
Defense played a key factor in the early goings of the first quarter, with Western Washington holding a slight 6-4 lead after four minutes. Mercedes Victor tied the game at 6-6 on a layup at the 5:30 mark. The Saints gained their first lead of the game at 7-6 on a free throw by Elin Johansson just 40 seconds later. Both sides traded baskets in the final minutes; with Western Washington taking an 11-9 lead after one quarter.
 
The Saints closed the gap to one point before Western Washington converted two quick baskets to extend the score to 16-10 with 7:19 left in the half. Saniah Simpson-Patu began to find her rhythm in the second quarter, scoring six straight points for the Saints and helped SMU stay within six points of Western Washington.  Despite Simpson-Patu's and Victor's efforts, WWU closed out the first half on a 7-2 run to take a 31-22 lead into halftime.
 
After falling behind by 13 points, Saint Martin's began attacking the Vikings' lead, starting with a pair of free throws by Elin Johansson, followed by a 3-pointer by Sara Bowen. However, Western Washington was able to weather the Saints' comeback attempt and once again took a double-digit lead. Once again Saint Martin's continued to attack and with baskets by Johansson, Bowen and Makenna Schultz, trimmed the lead to as little as seven.  WWU carried a 50-42 lead into the final quarter.
 
With the Vikings leading by 10, the Saints pulled to within one possession after five points by Bowen, and a layup by Schultz cut the score to 52-49 with 8:06 left in the game. However, the Saints were never able to finish the fourth quarter comeback as Western Washington extended their lead back to double digits and clinched the 69-58 victory.
 
Leading the way was Simpson-Patu with 15 points, on 6-for-14 shooting, along with five rebounds. Victor and Johansson each reached the double-digit mark, ending with 12 and 11 points respectively and combining for 10 rebounds. Bowen came off the bench for a career-high nine points, the only nine points from the SMU bench in the game.
 
Saint Martin's as a team shot 21-for-48 (43.8 percent) from the floor, 3-for-11 (27.3 percent) beyond the arc, and 13-for-19 (68.4 percent) at the line. The Saints grabbed 24 rebounds, 10 assists on 18 turnovers, along with one block and five steals.
 
The Saints return home to Marcus Pavilion as they will face Alaska Anchorage on Thursday, Jan 18 at 7:00 p.m. Live stats and video will be available on smusaints.com.