LACEY, Wash. – Makenna Schultz took her offensive game to the level, scoring a career-high 33 points on 6-for-7 3-point shooting against the conference's best defense; however, Seattle Pacific outpaced the Saints 94-76 in an unexpected offensive shootout.
 
Everything seem to fall for the sophomore guard, as Schultz ended the night on 9-for-12 shooting and Saniah Simpson-Patu and Mercedes Victor finished with 15 and 14 points respectively. Seattle Pacific (15-3, 9-2) took control of the game with a 35-6 run that stretch nearly 10 minutes, a hole the Saints (6-13, 2-9) could never recover from.
 
Saint Martin's came out in the first quarter on a 9-2 run, highlighted by an and-one play by Jayla Russ and baskets from Simpson-Patu. Coming out of the SPU timeout, the momentum quickly shifted back to the Falcons. Seattle Pacific responded with a 15-3 run to take a lead, one that never faltered. The Falcons' lead grew to as many as 15 by the end of the first quarter.
 
Seattle Pacific scored the first seven points of the second quarter, capping off their 35-6 run. The Saints began to gain momentum back in the final two minutes of the first half, after trailing by 27, baskets by Schultz and Victor helped SMU to a 6-1 edge in the closing minutes. Seattle Pacific carried a 53-31 lead into halftime.
 
The Falcons continued to attack, stretching their lead out to as many as 31 at the 3:05 mark. However, Schultz came alive starting in the third quarter. After ending the first half with seven points, Schultz rattled off 15 points in the third quarter, including three 3-pointers. Despite the offense by Schultz, Seattle Pacific held on to an 80-50 lead after three quarters.
 
Schultz continued her rampant scoring, adding 11 more points in the final quarters, including two more 3-pointers, finishing with 26 second half points and 33 total. Mercedes Victor found a rhythm offensive in the fourth as well, adding 10 points to help the Saints' to 26 fourth quarter points. Even though Seattle Pacific was outscored by 12 in the final 10 minutes, the Falcons cruised to the 94-76 victory.
 
In 32 minutes of action, Schultz scored 33 points, the first Saint to score 30+ since Krista Stabler's 32 on Jan 5, 2016. Simpson-Patu added 15 points, four rebounds and five assists, along with one block and steal in 35 minutes of play. Mercedes Victor finished with 14 points on 7-for-8 shooting while Russ recorded nine points, and a team-high seven rebounds. Lauren Lindley came off the bench for four blocks in 10 minutes.
 
The Saints shot 27-for-53 (50.9 percent) from the field, 7-for-19 (36.8 percent) beyond the arc, and 15-for-23 (65.2 percent) at the free throw line. SMU recorded 26 rebounds, 14 assists on 16 turnovers, along with six blocks and six steals.
 
Saint Martin's after playing seven of their last nine at home, will travel for three straight games. Heading first to Montana State Billings on Thursday, Jan 25 with a 7:00 p.m. tip-off. Live stats and video will be available of the game on smusaints.com.