LACEY, Wash. – Even though it was the opening game of the year for
Bria Thames, the senior looked to be in mid-season form. Thames led the Saints with 21 points, and nine rebounds in SMU's 73-64 victory over Pacific Lutheran inside Marcus Pavilion.
Thames muscled her way to the basket over and over, shooting 8-for-12 from the field, and grabbed seven defensive boards. Preseason All-Conference selection
Claire Dingus added 15 points, 10 rebounds, four steals, and three assists.
Makenna Schultz and
Tierney DeDonatis added 18 points off the bench in the back court.
In the opening quarter, Pacific Lutheran led throughout a majority of the time; however, the lead was never more than four. Thames and Dingus combined for 12 of the Saints' 15 points, but SMU trailed 18-15 at the break.
Both sides traded baskets in the second quarter until the Saints made a late push before halftime. The Lutes led 26-25 with 2:33 left to go in the half before Saint Martin's closed out the quarter on a 10-2 run. Thames converted two baskets, while
Janealle Sutterlict drained a 3-pointer; however, the highlight of the run was a 40-foot buzzer beater from Schultz to put SMU on top 35-28 at the break.
Saint Martin's lead hovered around five to eight points for most of the third quarter, touching a max of 10 on an opening 3-pointer from Sutterlict. The Saints shot 58.3 percent from the floor in the quarter but were only able to outscore PLU 19-17 in the frame.
Entering the final ten minutes, the Saints looked to have finally put away the game, leading by as many as 16. Pacific Lutheran refused to quit, and trimmed the lead all the way down to six in the final minutes. Saint Martin's locked down on defense in the final possessions, and came away with the 73-64 victory to open the year.
Saint Martin's shot 26-for-58 (44.8 percent) from the field, 6-for-13 (46.2 percent) beyond the arc, and 15-for-23 (65.2 percent) at the free throw line. The Saints collected 39 rebounds, with 10 assists on 16 turnovers, along with eight steals and three blocks.
SMU welcomes in Warner Pacific on Sunday, November 17 at 2:00 p.m. for their next game. The game will be available with live stats and video on smusaints.com.
