PORTLAND, Ore. – Once again it was the Claire Dingus show as the junior lit up Warner Pacific for 24 points, on 11-for-14 shooting in the Saints' 61-to-51 victory on Thursday night.
 
Saint Martin's (6-6) returned to a .500 record, closing out the game on an 11-to-3 run to secure the double-digit victory. Tierney DeDonatis was the only other Saint to reach the double-digit scoring mark, finishing with 12 points, but all nine Saints who reached the court managed to score.
 
Warner Pacific managed to tie the game once, coming at the 7-to-7 mark early in the first quarter. On the following possession, Maryn Budiman connected on one of the Saints' four 3-pointers on the night, giving the lead back to SMU. Saint Martin's closed out the quarter on a 12-to-5 run to open up a 19-to-12 lead.
 
The Saints lead grew to as many as 14 in the first half before ultimately closing at 34-to-27 entering halftime. Warner Pacific continued to chip away at the Saints' lead throughout the second half, getting it down to as little as two on multiple occasions. However, the Saints bent but never broke, holding onto the lead and snapping a two-game skid.
 
Iternite Reed's seven points off the bench was third on the team, while Rian Clear added five boards, three assists, and two steals in 18 minutes of action.
 
Saint Martin's shot 22-for-52 (42.3 percent) from the field, just 4-for-20 beyond the arc, and 13-for-16 (81.3 percent) at the free throw line. The Saints dominated the boards, out rebounding Warner Pacific 38-to-24, while collecting 16 assists on their 22 made field goals. SMU also added seven steals and two blocks as a team.
 
The Saints host Warner Pacific for their 2021 season finale on Saturday, March 6 at 6:00 PM. Live stats and streaming will be available on smusaints.com.