LACEY, Wash. – Trailing by four in the final minutes, the double-double threat of Bria Thames and Claire Dingus combined for 32 points and 30 rebounds to lift the Saints to a critical GNAC victory over Western Oregon on Thursday night.
 
In a game of runs in the final quarter, the momentum switched back and forth until the final buzzer. In the end it was Saint Martin's (7-7,2-5 GNAC) getting the final edge over Western Oregon (5-9,2-5 GNAC), rattling off 13 points and clutch plays from key players to give them the final victory. Thames and Dingus grabbed their sixth and fifth double-doubles of the season, respectively, while Jeanealle Sutterlict and Tierney DeDonatis each scored in double digits.

Points were hard to come by in the opening minutes of the first quarter, with each team only scoring one basket in the first four minutes. Threes from Sutterlict and Jayla Russ gave the Saints a 9-5 lead at the five-minute mark. Additional baskets from four different Saints ended the quarter 17-9.

After a WOU free throw shot to open up the second quarter, SMU went on to score the next seven straight points, continuing their hot offense. The lead held around 10 points throughout the quarter, stretching to as many as 14. Saint Martin's finished out the period with a nine-point advantage.

Coming out of halftime, with the Saints on top 29-20, Western Oregon opened up with a three to cut the lead to six. Baskets continued to fall for both teams, with WOU attempting to chip away at the lead. A Western Oregon 6-1 run cut the score to just two points, but Sutterlict rattled off two straight 3-pointers to widen the lead yet again, which held throughout the rest of the quarter.

With the Wolves looking for a comeback, they scored five straight points to open up the quarter to close the gap. The Saints lost their lead for the first time at 53-52 with 6:18 left on the clock, changing the flow of the game. They held the advantage for the next five minutes until a WOU technical foul on Dingus put them back ahead. Saint Martin's iced the game and ended the score at 71-64 at the final buzzer.

Thames continued her rebounding dominance with 19, marking a career-high, and her sixth double-double with 14 points. Dingus ended the game with 18 points, while adding 11 rebounds and two assists. Sutterlict recorded 12 points and three rebounds, while DeDonatis finished with 14 points and two boards.

Saint Martin's as a team shot 23-for-61 (37.7 percent) from the floor, 6-for-18 (33.3 percent) from beyond the arc, and 19-for-27 (70.4 percent) at the line. The Saints collected 47 rebounds, with eight assists on 17 turnovers, along with seven steals.

Saint Martin's will face Concordia Saturday, January 18 with tip-off scheduled for 5:15 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at smusaint.com.