BURNABY, BRITISH COLUMBIA — Saint Martin's Women's Basketball (12-7, 5-6 GNAC) traveled to Canada on Saturday to take on the Simon Fraser Red Leafs in GNAC competition this past weekend.

The Saints would look to avenge their home loss to the Red Leafs earlier in the season in Saturday's contest. SMU would get out to a strong start in the first quarter, getting scores from Jada Travis and Kiana Rios, who would both put up 16 points apiece in highly efficient outings from both players. Travis would contribute six assists and three rebounds and Rios would snag eight boards. Their quick start would fizzle out in the second period, with Simon Fraser turning up the intensity to slow down the Saint Martin's offense. Avery Oaster would also chime in with 15 points and nine rebounds in the paints, by the end of the game, but the continued scoring efforts of the Saints would be exceeded by the Red Leafs going into halftime, with SMU trailing 50-34.

The team would begin to build their lead back out of the half thanks to the career performance of Mya Hatchett throughout the contest. Hatchett would be the star of the show for the Saints, putting up a career-high 19 points in 24 minutes on the floor. She would go 5-8 (62.5%) from the field and 8-10 (80%) from the free-throw line, taking advantage of points whenever she could get them to help the Saints get points back on the board. She would be aided by Keeli Jade Smith, who would grab nine rebounds and score eight points in her effort to keep the offense in rhythm. The team's scoring would heat up, and just over five minutes into the second half, the Saints would overcome their deficit to take their first lead since the beginning of the second period. Both teams would trade the lead heading into the final 10 minutes, but the Saints would begin to pull away as the game came to a close. Saint Martin's would flip their 16-point halftime deficit into a 12-point victory as they would end up defeating Simon Fraser by a score of 86-74.

Head Coach Natalie Marlowe highlighted how the team responded to the adversity they faced during the game:

"This was a big game that we needed to have. I could not be more proud of the fight and response from this group. Sophia [Wisotzki] is one of the best scorers in the country and she proved that in the first half. We got ourselves into some foul trouble which led to some lineups we aren't used to having on the floor, but we never doubted our chances. Our kids did a great job adjusting at halftime and throughout the second half. Mya Hatchett played big minutes - made some big free throws and buckets down the stretch. Kiana Rios had a great response after early foul trouble. This was a full-team effort, and when we share the ball, we're a very tough team."

SMU Women's Basketball will be back in action this Thursday as they host Montana State Billings inside Marcus Pavilion at 6:00 PM in the Play4Kay Game. You can get tickets here.