LACEY, Wash. – On a night where the Saints honored five seniors pre-game, it came down to the wire with in-state rival Central Washington. Tied 70-70 with just 1:30 left in the game, Central Washington snuck out of Marcus Pavilion with a win using an 8-0 run down the stretch to pull out the 78-73 score.
 
Before the game, Saint Martin's (11-12, 3-11 GNAC) honored the playing careers of Mallory Vivola, Tierney DeDonatis, Emma Wrede, Maryn Budiman, and Claire Dingus. The seniors DeDonatis and Dingus came out on fire and helped the Saints to halftime with a tied 31-31 ballgame. Central Washington (18-6, 11-4), who was ranked second in the most recent NCAA Regional poll, was unable to break away from the Saints all night until the final minutes. The Wildcats iced the game at the line, hitting their final six attempts.
 
Saint Martin's jumped out to an early lead over the Wildcats on quick starts from Dingus, DeDonatis and Rian Clear. Both sides went back-and-forth on the offensive end with the game tied at 14-14 with three minutes. The Wildcats ended the quarter on an 8-2 run to take a 22-16 lead.
 
Unlike the first quarter where the two teams combined for 38 points, the second quarter began with just six points in the opening four minutes. However, it was the Saints who caught fire, scoring nine of the first 11 points of the frame, and eventually took the lead on a 3-pointer from Lauryn Morris. A last-minute bucket by Central Washington had the scored tied 31-31 heading to the half.
 
Saint Martin's opened up a 45-41 lead on a jumper from Dingus midway through the third. The lead flipped flopped between the two sides down the stretch with Central Washington holding onto a 55-52 edge heading the final quarter.
 
The Saints tied and even took the lead with five minutes to play before the Wildcats answered right back with a couple baskets of their own. Scoring efforts from Dingus and Clear helped SMU once again tie the game at 70-70 but for one final time. Central Washington connected on a basket on the following possession and sealed the game at the line.
 
In the game, there was 18 lead changes, and 12 tied scores. Dingus ended with a game-high 26 points on 11-for-20 shooting with five rebounds. Clear added 19 points in a full 40 minutes, and DeDonatis scored 14 with eight assists.
 
The Saints hit the road for their final week of regular season action, traveling to Western Washington on Tuesday before heading to Alaska for two games. Live stats and video of the games can be found on smusaints.com.