BURNABY, B.C. – The Saint Martin's women's basketball team (5-10, 1-6 GNAC) got a couple monkeys off their back Saturday night when they downed Simon Fraser (6-5, 4-3 GNAC) by a score of 61-57 up in West Gym north of the border. Not only was it the first conference win of the season for a SMU squad that has been oh-so-close numerous times this season, but it was also the first time since 2011 that SMU women's basketball had gotten the job done in Canada when they defeated SFU in their first ever matchup.
Chenoa Louie was the MVP of the night, coming off the bench to sting the Red Leafs for 16 points in addition to eight rebounds.
After
Anjel Galbraith scored on the opening possession, the Saints fell behind 4-2.
Kiana Rios put the Saints back in front with a long ball, then it was
Lauryn Morris that answered an SFU bucket with one of her own. With the score tied a 12 near the end of the first, it was Galbraith that splashed a three then added a free throw to score the final four points of the quarter and send SMU into the second with the edge.
The second was again a quarter where the Saints exited with a slim advantage. The score was even at 32 with under a minute to go when Galbraith hit a free throw to have SMU up a point, then
Lauryn Morris drew a foul with two seconds on the clock to head to the free throw line, knock both down, and give the Saints a three-point margin into the locker room.
The third quarter had Simon Fraser drawing it back within one as they started the final frame. The see-saw affair played up to snuff in the fourth with the Saints sprinting out with eight-straight to start including buckets from Rios and Louie, and four points from Galbraith. The Red Leafs gnawed away at their deficit and after a Louie layup put SMU up three with two to go, SFU drew within one at the minute mark with a layup of their own. After a errant pass resulted in the Saints taking possession, Galbraith smartly bled the clock before driving to the bucket and drawing a huge foul. Knocking down the first free throw, it was Louie that emerged the hero when the second one was missed at Louie evaded around a box out to grab the offensive board. That forced SFU into fouling where Rios knocked both her freebies down to make it a two-possession game. A final stop from the Saints ensured the 61-57 victory for Saint Martin's.
Apart from Louie's outstanding night with her career-high of 16 points, Galbraith continued her run of ironwoman play, never stepping off the floor in the entire 40 minutes scoring 18 points and launching eight assists. Morris totaled 15 points and eight boards; Rios also added 10 points.
The Saints will look to take the momentum back home this week as they host the Alaska schools, starting with Alaska-Fairbanks (4-10, 1-6 GNAC) on Thursday, January 19
th. Tipoff is set for 5:15 PM at Marcus Pavilion.