Coming Up – Seattle Pacific (January 23, Lacey, Washington, 7:00 p.m.), Montana State Billings (January 25, Billings, Montana, 5:15 p.m.).

COMPLETE MEDIA GUIDE
 
Live Stats/Live Video – Live Stats and Live Video of SMU's Basketball Games will be available with links found on smusaints.com. Live stats and video will be produced by the Host School.
 
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Ticket Information - SMU students get in free to all SMU home games with a valid student ID card and tickets are available for only six dollars. Seniors/Military/Non-SMU Students get in for four dollars. Children under the age of 11 get in free. Tickets can be purchased at the door or by calling Abbey Bergquist at 360-438-4305.
 
Saints Put Scare Into Nationally Ranked Alaska Anchorage – Despite falling behind by 14 to start the game, Saint Martin's outscored No. 4 Alaska Anchorage 22-5 in the second quarter to take the lead into halftime. However, Alaska Anchorage battled back and escaped Marcus Pavilion with a 76-57 victory over SMU. The Saints (5-12, 1-8) switched to a zone defense and shut down the Seawolves (16-1, 9-0) in the second quarter, holding them to 2-for-19 from the field while the Saints shot nearly 53 percent. The Seawolves have only trailed twice at halftime this season, with one against D-I opponent Maryland Eastern Shore. UAA fought through foul trouble and forced turnovers to regain the momentum and the lead, eventually pulling away with a 19-point victory.
 
Bitter Sweet Win For Saints Over Alaska – In a bitter sweet night for Saint Martin's Women's Hoops, the Saints lost senior Elin Johansson due to injury; however, led by Saniah Simpson-Patu, fought back and battled for the 66-61 victory over Alaska inside Marcus Pavilion. Simpson-Patu set a career-high in points with 24, with 17 coming in the first half, along with seven rebounds, one block, and one steal. With Saints holding onto a one-point lead and five seconds remaining, Hannah Reynolds hit both free throws and after an Alaska turnover, Reynolds sealed the victory at the line.
 
Saints Lose Centerpiece Of Program – Senior Elin Johansson, suffered an injury in the win over Alaska, represents a major loss to the Saints. She ranked third in scoring (14.9), third in field goal percentage (51.3), fifth in minutes played (31.3), eighth in blocked shots (0.8), 10th in defensive rebounding (4.4), 12th in rebounding (6.5), and 13th in offensive rebounding (2.1) at the time of her loss.
 
Simpson-Patu Rises As One Of The Best In GNAC– One of the top freshman in the conference and country, Simpson-Patu rose up on the GNAC Leaderboard. She began the conference season with 16-points, seven rebounds and two assists, in 29 minutes against Western Oregon. Leading the Saints over Concordia, Simpson-Patu scored a career-high 23 points, along with six rebounds, four assists on 9-for-15 shooting. She continued her run with a 21-point, and career-high 14-rebounds, for her first collegiate double-double against Oklahoma Christian and seven points and nine rebounds against MSUB. Simpson-Patu hit the 20-point mark for the third time with 21 points against Simon Fraser, before setting a new career-high in points with 27 against Alaska. She now ranks fifth in scoring (14.3), fifth in defensive rebounding (5.3) sixth in rebounding (7.1), and sixth in minutes played (30.7).
 
Schultz, Developing Into A Star – Sophomore Makenna Schultz is finding her way, inside a competitive GNAC, after scoring a then career-high 20 points against Western Oregon. She shot 8-for-13 from the field with two 3-pointers along with setting a career-high in rebounds with eight. Schultz eclipsed the double-digit scoring average with a 14-point performance at Seattle Pacific, along with six rebounds. She was once again a spark off the bench against MSUB with 15 points and six rebounds. She earned a spot in the starting lineup and reward Christy Martin with a 13-point, 3-steal performance against CWU and a new career-high 22 points versus NNU. Schultz is now third on the team in scoring at 11.1 ppg, which ranks 21st in conference, along with 2.8 rpg, 1.6 apg, and 1.1 spg.
 
Saints' Defense Locking Down On Opponents – Defense has proven to be one of the Saints' strengths this season, holding Western Oregon and Concordia to .342 and .328 percent respectively from the field, followed by stuffing MSUB to 29.6 percent. Both WOU and CU struggled to find space beyond the arc as well, going 5-for-19 and 5-for-20 respectively. SMU followed up those performances by silencing CWU to 32.7 percent from the field. The Saints rank fourth in conference, holding their opponents to 37.7 percent overall.
 
Saniah Simpson-Patu Named Saint of the Month – Every month Saint Martin's selects one male and female athlete as Saint of the Month. Simpson-Patu after dominating opponents in the month of December and proving to be one of the best players in the conference, has earned the Saint of the Month award. The award marks her first of the collegiate career. 
 
Seattle Pacific Preview – The hottest team in the GNAC, enters Marcus Pavilion on a five-game winning streak, including their 18-point victory over No. 5 Alaska Anchorage on Saturday. The Falcons start the week with a 14-3 record overall, 8-2 in conference while receiving votes in last's week national poll. SPU is led by Jordan McPhee and Courtney Hollander, who are the Falcons top-two scoring options at 14.6 ppg and 11.6 ppg respectively. McPhee shots 46.2 percent from the floor while also leading the team in blocks at 1.0 bpg, and steals at 2.3 spg. Hollander meanwhile is second on the team in rebounding at 7.5 rpg. Julia Haining is third on the team in scoring at 8.2 ppg and leads SPU in rebounding with 7.9 rpg. Likely to also be in the starting lineup are Lindsay Lee and Rachel Shim, who both average 7.9 ppg and combined for 5.6 rpg and 5.4 apg. Erica Pagano is the best scoring weapon off the bench for the Falcons with 6.2 ppg. As a team, Seattle Pacific is averaging 72.3 ppg on a 40.9/31.5/74.3 shooting line while allowing only 59.3 ppg. The Falcons average 41.5 rpg, 15.7 apg on 14.6 turnovers per game, along with 2.8 bpg, and 10.7 spg.
 
Projected Starters For SPU:
G Rachel Shim, G Jordan McPhee, G Courtney Hollander, G Lindsay Lee, C Julia Haining
 
Montana State Billings Preview – The first time these two teams faced off, Montana State Billings was on a losing skid; however, that is not the case now, with MSUB winning their last three games. The 14-6, 7-3 Yellowjackets narrowly escaped the Saints in Lacey back in December to a tune of 58-56. The Preseason Conference Player of the Year, Alisha Breen, has lived up to the billing, averaging a league best 20.2 ppg along with 9.3 rpg and 2.4 apg. Breen is shooting .430/.362/.874 on the year while ranking in the top-ten in six different categories in the GNAC. Rylee Kane is second on the team in scoring at 11.8 ppg and rounding out the Yellowjackets major scoring is Vanessa Stavish at 8.6 ppg. MSUB as a team is averaging 70.5 ppg while limiting their opponents to 66.3 ppg. The Yellowjackets are shooting 40.6 percent from the field, 32.2 percent beyond the arc, and 73.9 percent at the line. MSUB records 35.6 rpg, 15.1 apg on 13.1 turnovers per game along with 6.9 steals per game and 3.4 blocks per game.
 
Projected Starters For MSUB:
G Rylee Kane, G Lexi Prevost, F Taylor Cunningham, F Alisha Breen, F Vanessa Stavish
 
GNAC Recap – With Seattle Pacific defeating Alaska Anchorage, the top of the GNAC has been crowded. Alaska Anchorage still holds the edge with a 9-1 record; however, Seattle Pacific and Northwest Nazarene now sit only one game behind at 8-2. Montana State Billings still remains in striking distance, currently fourth in standings at 7-3. Central Washington and Concordia own the final spots in the tournament with records of 6-4 and 5-5 respectively. Western Oregon only sits one game out of the playoffs at 4-6 while Simon Fraser and Western Washington are tied at 3-7. Saint Martin's and Alaska round out the conference at 2-8 and 0-10 respectively.