FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Jayla Russ put together one of her best games of the season, 14 points and eight rebounds, to help the Saints power past Alaska, 70-59, on the road for a GNAC victory.
 
Assisted by Saniah Simpson-Patu and Makenna Schultz, who both scored 16 points, the Saints (7-18, 3-14) outscored Alaska (4-19, 0-17) every quarter, ending with an 11 point victory, and marking a sweep of the season series for SMU.

"I was really encouraged by this growth that we showed tonight," said head coach Christy Martin. "We crashed the boards and made a better effort getting those offensive rebounds. We've worked on a lot of different looks defensively lately, and tonight I thought we did a great job job of switching between them to disrupt Alaska's offense."
 
Alaska jumped out to the early 6-3 lead before the Saints scored six straight points, taking the lead over and SMU never looked back. The Nanooks cut the score to one multiple times in the quarter; however, baskets by Mercedes Victor and Simpson-Patu gave SMU a 15-11 lead after one.
 
In the second quarter, the Saints' lead grew to nine with 5:20 remaining after a pair of free throws by Schultz and a 3-pointer by Russ. Alaska responded with back-to-back 3-pointers to trim the lead to one possession. Alaska's 9-2 run was severed when the Saints closed out the half with jumpers from Simpson-Patu and Hannah Reynolds, carrying a 28-22 lead into halftime.
 
Alaska led off the second half with a free throw before the Saints scored six straight points, pushing their lead to 34-23 with 7:48 remaining. Alaska once again responded, cutting the lead to three on an 8-0 run. However, the Saints closed the quarter on a 5-0 run and held the Nanooks to zero points in the final three minutes of action.
 
With the Saints leading, 41-32, entering the final quarter, Alaska managed to narrow the margin down to one possession, 46-44 with 6:07 left. Rebekah Baugh converted in the paint, followed by free throws by Schultz, stemmed the flow and gave the Saints a six point lead once again. Schultz came alive after the free throws, scoring 11 fourth quarter points, and carried the Saints to a 70-59 victory.

"We've been trying different players in different positions to really utilize their strengths, and I think moving Jayla (Russ) to the middle helped our press be more effective," said Martin. "I also like how we attacked the rim and finally got those free throws to fall. It was nice to get back in the win column and I hope we're able to build on this against Anchorage on Saturday."
 
For the fourth time this season, Russ finished with 10 or more points and five or rebounds, ending at 14 points and eight rebounds. Simpson-Patu and Schultz combined for 32 points, five rebounds and five assists, while Victor put together an eight point, five rebound, two block performance. Baugh finished with six points and seven rebounds in 30 minutes of action.
 
As a team, Saint Martin's shot 20-for-55 (36.4 percent) from the field, 3-for-13 (23.1 percent) beyond the arc, and 27-for-31 (87.1 percent) at the free throw line. The 27 made free throws marked a season-high for the Saints. SMU recorded 39 rebounds to Alaska's 31, 10 assists on 15 turnovers, along with seven steals and two assists.
 
The Saints travel to Anchorage, Alaska for their final road game of the season. SMU and UAA is scheduled to tip-off at 8:00 p.m. PST with live stats and video of the game available on smusaints.com.