LACEY, Wash. – After Saint Martin's hot streak of five game wins, it was finally ended by Central Washington on Thursday night inside Marcus Pavilion.

Both teams were neck and neck in the first quarter, but it was Central Washington (17-10,12-7 GNAC) who caught fire offensively beyond the arc at the four-minute mark of the second quarter. Saint Martin's (14-12,9-10 GNAC) struggled to put a stop their offense until the final quarter where they outscored the Wildcats 21-15; however, the deficit was too deep to come back from.

Four different Saints scored in double-digits led by Bria Thames who showcased another star performance. She finished with 19 points and 15 rebounds for her 13th double-double of the season, while Janealle Sutterlict and Tierney DeDonatis combined for 24 points. Claire Dingus grabbed her eighth double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds while adding five steals.

In the opening minutes, both teams went basket for basket, tying at 5-5. Central Washington quickly grabbed the momentum with a 10-2 run to jump out to an early lead. The Wildcats held this lead until the end of the quarter with a 17-13 advantage.

Claire Dingus and Bria Thames opened up the second quarter with a couple of baskets to tie up the game, then gained the lead for the first time to put the Saints up 20-19. CWU responded with a 14-2 run, mainly from beyond the arc, to cushion a double-digit lead. The Wildcats pushed their lead to 13 at the break to mark their largest lead thus far at 38-25.

Central Washington continued their momentum into the third quarter, limiting the Saints to just four points in seven minutes. CWU's advantage held around 20 points until the one-minute mark when the Saints knocked down three straight baskets to trim the lead down heading into the final period. 

In the final 10 minutes of action, the Saints' offense struggled in the opening minutes. Tierney DeDonatis kick started SMU's offense with back-to-back threes to chip away at the lead. The Saints proceeded to outscore the Wildcats 9-4 over the next four minutes; however, it was not enough to come back from the deficit.

Saint Martin's as a team shot 22-for-6 (33.3 percent) from the floor, 3-for-17 (17.6 percent) beyond the arc, and 13-for-19 (68.4 percent) at the free throw line. SMU collected 39 rebounds, and collected eight assists on 11 turnovers, with eight steals, and two blocks.

Saint Martin's will host their last GNAC game of the season on Saturday, February 29 and celebrate their six seniors. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. against Northwest Nazarene with live stats and video available at smusaints.com.