LACEY, Wash. – After trailing by only three at halftime, Concordia outpaced the Saints in the third quarter by nine points to pull ahead and control the 81-70 victory over SMU inside Marcus Pavilion on Thursday night.
 
Jayla Russ scored a career-high 19 points on four made 3-pointers while Makenna Schultz added 19 points as well off the bench; however, Concordia (14-13, 8-11) controlled the paint and the rebounding battle over Saint Martin's (7-20, 3-16).
 
Russ knocked down her first 3-pointer of the game, two and half minutes in, to tie the game at 7-7. Schultz later put Saint Martin's in the lead with her own 3-pointer, before Concordia tied the game at 14-14 at the end of the first quarter.
 
3-pointers by Schultz and Russ regained the lead for Saint Martin's, their largest of the night at 23-19. The Saints led for most of the second quarter until a closing 6-1 run by the Cavaliers put CU on top 33-30 heading into the locker room.
 
The Cavaliers' lead quickly extended to nine points, just three minutes into the third quarter. The Saints went nearly nine minutes without a field goal, allowing Concordia to break open a double-digit lead. The lead stretched to as many as 14 in the final minutes of the third quarter.
 
Schultz and Russ combined to score the Saints' first 12 points of the fourth quarter, allowing the Saints to slowly crawl back into the game. The lead dwindled to six points, 72-66, with 2:00 minutes left after a pair of Rebekah Baugh free throws. However, Concordia closed out the game on a 9-4 advantage to seal the 81-70 victory.
 
Russ set a new career-high with 19 points while Schultz went off for 19 on 6-for-12 shooting. Mercedes Victor finished with a quiet 11 points and four rebounds while Hannah Reynolds came off the bench for eight points and four assists.
 
The Saints as a whole shot 20-for-52 (38.5 percent) from the floor, 6-for-21 (28.6 percent) from beyond the arc, and 24-for-28 (85.7 percent) at the free throw line. SMU collected 24 rebounds, 11 assists on 12 turnovers, along with five steals and three blocks.
 
The Saints play their final game of the 2017-18 season with a matchup against Western Oregon on Saturday, Feb 24 at 5:15 p.m. Live stats and video along with a radio broadcast by the Bryant and Clark Sports Connection are available on smusaints.com.