SEATTLE – That one got away.
 
The Saint Martin's Saints scored the last eight points of regulation to force overtime, then scored the first seven points of the extra period on Saturday afternoon to beat Seattle Pacific in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball game, 58-51.
 
SPU (10-13, 6-7 GNAC) had a 44-33 lead with 7:56 to play in Brougham Pavilion, and was still ahead 46-38 at the 2:14 mark.
 
The Saints (11-10, 3-9 GNAC) then capped a 13-2 run on a game-tying 3-pointer by Rian Clear with 21.6 seconds remaining in regulation.
 
Both teams had another shot at the winning basket, but one missed lay-in at each end of the court brought on the extra five minutes.
 
"We had total control of the game at the half, and we talked about how we needed to control the game, keep them off the free throw line, and not let them go on any major runs," head coach Mike Simonson said. "We didn't execute that adjustment very well.
 
"Kudos to Saint Martin's – they really turned up their defensive pressure and took us out of our rhythm," he added. "However, their adjustments are things that I think we could have responded to better than we did."
 
Emily Nelson put the Saints ahead for good at 48-46 on a lay-up with 4:18 to go in OT. They added another five points to that as Seattle Pacific missed five shots in a row before Kaprice Boston nailed a 3-pointer from the left corner to make it 53-49 and 1:41 still showing.
 
Saint Martin's tacked on three free throws in the time that remained, with the final points for the Falcons coming on a jumper by Anna Eddy inside the final second.
 
Boston finished with 18 points, but was the only SPU player in double figures.
 
After trailing by an 11-5 count midway through the opening quarter, the Falcons took control of the game with a 19-4 scoring run through the rest of the first half. That included limiting Saint Martin's to just two points in the second quarter – and none in final 7:56 – while forcing the visitors into just 1-for-11 shooting (9.1 percent). SPU took a 24-15 lead into halftime.
 
The Saints climbed back in during the third, coming as close as 31-29. A 3-pointer by Rachel Berg pushed it back to five at 34-29 entering the fourth.
 
Seattle Pacific then hit its first four shots of that final period: a 3-pointer by Boston, a jumper by Abril Rexach Roure, a lay-in by Boston, and a 3-pointer by Eddy, producing the 44-33 advantage with just less than eight minutes to play. But the Falcons hit just one of their final 12 shots, while Saint Martin's drained five of its last 12 attempts.
 
"We had a few defensive miscues that were uncharacteristic of us down the stretch," Simonson said, 'when it's most important to make game-winning plays. The good news is we can learn a lot from this game, for how to manage the scoreboard and the clock in game-winning scenarios. That's a gift for us moving forward with a couple of tough, quality opponents next week."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- Seattle Pacific is 1-3 in four overtime games this season..
-- The Falcons wound up shooting just 28.1 percent for the game (18 of 64), their lowest mark of the season.
-- Saint Martin's finished a 34.5 percent (19 of 55).
--Tierney DeDonatis led the saints with 23 points and also dished six assists.
-- Saint Martin's was 16 of 20 at the free throw line through the second half and overtime, with 8 of 10 in OT.
-- SPU had a 45-37 rebounding advantage. Natalie Hoff and Abril Rexach Roure had seven apiece.
 
UP NEXT
Seattle Pacific plays a make-up game against Western Washington on Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. in Brougham Pavilion. That one was originally scheduled for Jan. 8, but was postponed for health and safety protocols. The home schedule concludes next Saturday with Senior Day against Montana State Billings at 2:00 p.m.


RECORDS
Seattle Pacific 10-13, 6-7 GNAC
Saint Martin's 11-10, 3-9 GNAC