BELLINGHAM, Wash. — The Saint Martin's Women's Basketball team was defeated 77-60 against Western Washington in Bellingham on Saturday, January 3.

The game was neck-and-neck each quarter, except for a lopsided second quarter that ultimately tilted the game in favor of the Vikings. The loss dropped the Saints' record to 7-6 overall and 3-1 in GNAC play.

How It Happened
First Quarter

• The game opened with an offensive flurry from both teams, as the Saints and Vikings both could not miss — Saint Martin's shot 6-10 from the field and 3-3 from three-point range, while Western Washington shot 7-10 from the field.
• Despite a 9-1 rebounding advantage for the Vikings, the Saints built a narrow 22-21 advantage after the first quarter behind eight points from Jada Travis.
• The Saints went up 12-6 at the 6:31 mark, as Laiken Hill converted a three-pointer assisted by Kiana Rios.
• Western Washington later tied the games at 14-14 with 3:56 on the clock, as the remainder of the quarter was neck-and-neck. A pair of Madelyn Brown free-throws put the Saints up 22-19 with 1:03 left in the quarter, before the Vikings tallied two free-throws of their own to cut Saint Martin's lead to 22-21 heading into the second quarter.

Second Quarter

• The second quarter saw Western Washington take an early hold on the game, as Saint Martin's struggled from the field (1-15) after a strong first quarter.
• The Vikings out-scored the Saints 17-6, including a 9-0 run to start the quarter.
• Saint Martin's went into halftime trailing 38-28.

Third Quarter

• The third quarter was high-scoring, as Western Washington narrowly out-scored Saint Martin's 21-20.
• Just like the second quarter, Western Washington went on a 9-0 run to start the period, pulling ahead 47-28 with 7:37 on the clock
• The Saints responded with a 9-2 run that trimmed the deficit to 49-37 with 3:40 left in the period.
• A layup by Kiana Rios drew Saint Martin's within 51-41, but the Saints were unable to bring the deficit back to single digits during the third quarter, as the Vikings led 59-48 heading into the fourth quarter.

Fourth Quarter

• After both teams exchanged flurries of scoring early in the fourth, the Saints saw back-to-back three-pointers from Laiken Hill and Kasey Booster to trim the deficit to single digits (66-58) with 3:16 remaining in regulation.
• The Vikings responded with a 4-0 run to go back ahead 70-58 with 2:20 remaining.
• The Saints were unable to make up any further ground, falling by a final score of 77-60.

Top Performers

• Kiana Rios led the Saints with 17 points, going 9-9 at the free-throw line.
• Laiken Hill scored 11 points, shooting 3-5 from beyond the arc.
• Jada Travis and Avery Oaster finished with 10 points each, while Travis also led the Saints with seven rebounds.

Up Next

The Saints will return to Lacey to host Seattle Pacific at 7 p.m. on Jan. 8.