LACEY, Wash. – After staying within three points at halftime, the Saints committed 14 second half turnovers as Northwest Nazarene pulled away 79-61 inside Marcus Pavilion on Saturday night.
Saniah Simpson-Patu recorded her second career double-double at 13 points and 13 rebounds while
Makenna Schultz set a new career-high in points with 22 to lead the Saints (5-9, 1-5); however, the Nighthawks' (9-2, 5-1) used a 26-4 run to overpower Saint Martin's and earn the road conference victory.
The first quarter went Saint Martin's way after an early 10-2 gave SMU an 11-6 lead. Simpson-Patu took over the game in the early goings, scoring 10 of the Saints' final 12 points in the quarter and finished with six rebounds. Saint Martin's lead extended to as much as double-digits, and closed out with a 20-13 lead.
Saint Martin's offense came to a grinding halt, going nearly six minutes without a field goal and Northwest Nazarene capitalized, scoring 18 straight points. The Nighthawks capped off the 26-4, stretching over seven minutes, to claim a 36-24 lead.
Rebekah Baugh stepped up with a 3-pointer, and began the Saints' offensive resurge. Schultz knocked down a fair of free throws, then converted the and-one opportunity, followed by a Baugh free throw, gave SMU eight straight points and trimmed the halftime score to 36-33.
NNU quickly responded in the third quarter, stretching the lead back out to nine in the opening minutes, while the Saints struggled to find their first half offensive groove. The Nighthawks lead slowly grew into double-digits over the course of the third quarter as NNU outscored SMU 28-17 and carried a 64-50 lead into the final quarter.
The Nighthawks controlled the majority of the final quarter, expanding their lead to a game-high 23.
Mallory Kessler and
Emma Kennedy closed out the game on a SMU 5-0 run to cut the score to its' final mark of 79-61.
Schultz set a new career-high in points with 22 points on 7-for-18 shooting, including three 3-pointers in 36 minutes of action. Simpson-Patu only managed three points in the final three quarters; however, she came one board short of tying her career-high of 14. Baugh finished the game with 11 points and six rebounds while
Elin Johansson fought with early foul trouble for the second straight game, finishing with six points, six rebounds and three assists.
As a team, Saint Martin's shot 16-for-56 (28.6 percent) from the field, 6-for-20 (30.0 percent) beyond the arc, and 23-for-30 (76.7 percent) at the free throw line. The Saints finished the game with 42 rebounds, 12 assists on 26 turnovers, along with two blocks and seven steals.
Saint Martin's will go on the road for the first time in a month, traveling north of the border to Simon Fraser on Jan 11. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. with live stats and video links available on smusaints.com.
