LACEY, WA — Saint Martin's Women's Basketball (8-4, 1-3 GNAC) took on the Western Washington Vikings this past weekend in a GNAC contest.

The Saints looked to avenge their two-point loss to the Red Leafs just two days later against a high-powered Vikings squad inside Marcus Pavilion. Kiana Rios would get things started for the Saints in yet another impressive offensive showing, tallying her fourth-consecutive double-digit scoring performance with 18. She would also contribute seven boards and four assists throughout the game. She would be aided early by Sarah Lamet, who would get to work in the paint from the jump, grabbing five boards of her own, while also tallying a team-high two blocks on top of scoring seven points. However, SMU would have their hands full with WWU's counterattack and would be outshot throughout the first half. The Saints would continue to fight in the face of adversity, as true freshman Jada Travis would have a well-rounded performance, tallying seven rebounds, six points, a team-leading five steals, and three assists. The Vikings would keep their distance in the first two periods of the game, however, and head into the locker room at halftime with a 35-21 lead over the Saints.

A reinvigorated Saints squad would continue to battle out of the break, with Kasey Booster continuing to stand out from beyond the arc, going 3-8 (37.5%) from three and scoring ten points in total. Booster would help spark the Saints to an efficient fourth period, but the Vikings would continue to find gaps in the Saints' defense to keep their lead. She would be joined in the scoring efforts by Rios once again, along with Laiken Hill, Mya Hatchett, Madelyn Brown, and Keeli Jade Smith making contributions along the way. SMU would close the gap late into the game and outscore WWU 16-13 in the fourth period, but would ultimately not be able to overcome the deficit and would drop the contest to the Vikings, 63-50.

SMU Women's Basketball will hit the road to take on the Seattle Pacific Falcons on Thursday, January 9th, at 5:15 PM. You can get tickets here.