SEATTLE – All day long, the Seattle Pacific Falcons tried to find some openings through the Saint Martin's defense.
 
They found some … just not enough.
 
Olivia Mayer poured in 25 points, her most ever in an SPU uniform, but the Saints built a 10-point lead early in the fourth quarter, then survived a late Falcons comeback for a 55-52 Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's basketball victory in Brougham Pavilion.
 
Mayer, who hit 10 of 16 from the floor, was the only Falcon in double figures. Hailey Marlow added eight points.
 
"You have to give Saint Martin's credit – their whole style is to create chaos," head coach Mike Simonson said. "They created it by their pressure, their physicality, and their changing of defenses. They would be in one defense, then they would change, and that made us kind of get that deer-in-the-headlights look.
 
"We've got to get stops, we've got to get scores, and it felt like we could never piece the two together today."
 
Even so, the Falcons gave themselves a chance to pull out the game.
 

Down by the largest margin of the day at 52-42 with just 5:10 left, SPU (6-10, 3-3 GNAC) put eight straight points on the board: a 3-pointer from the left corner by Hailey Marlow, a pair of Mayer free throws, and another Marlow trey, this one on a second-chance opportunity. That made it 52-50 and 2:36 still remaining.
 
The Saints got back on the board with a free throw by Keeli Jade Smith at the 2:20 mark. SPU had three shots at the basket on its next possession, but couldn't convert as the clock ticked below two minutes. Finally, Mayer got a lay-in off a feed from Beirne, for 53-52 with 47.8 seconds left.
 
The Falcons appeared to have gotten a stop when a shot by Sarah Lamet from the right side sailed over the rim. But it fell right into the hands of Lauryn Morris, who put it back in for a 55-52 edge at 14.6 seconds.
 
Simonson drew up a play during his final timeout. A Saint Martin's foul with 9.6 seconds to go forced SPU to inbound again. With the last seconds disappearing, all they could find was Marlow way beyond the top of the key. Her desperation shot was long enough and found the backboard, but was off target.
 
"They fouled us and took us out of our original play," Simonson said. "We inbounded from a different spot and had to go to a different play, and we didn't execute very well."
 
SPU was up 18-10 early in the second quarter. But Saint Martin's (3-9, 1-4 GNAC), which snapped a six-game losing streak and picked up its first conference victory, went on a 16-4 run leading up to halftime. The Saints kept the Falcons off the board for a span of 5 minutes, 24 seconds to get within 18-17, then kept them off again for another 3:11 while getting nine straight points of their own to go up 26-20.

Mayer scored Seattle Pacific's first 11 points of the third quarter, cutting the deficit to one at 34-33. A lay-in by Hunter Beirne put the Falcons on top, 35-34, and a Mayer lay-in moments later produced a 37-36 edge.
 
Saint Martin's tallied the last five points of the quarter to take a 41-37 lead into the fourth.
 
"We need to be more aggressive, need to get to the rim more and need to bury the shots we have," Simonson said. "I was pleased with our rebounding (a 33-28 advantage) and was pleased with our 3-point shooting (7 of 19 for 36.8 percent) – that's improved. But there were breakdowns on defense. It wasn't our typical defensive game. And we could have done a better job taking care of the ball (19 turnovers)."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
-- The Falcons shot 38.2 percent for the day (21 of 55). Saint Martin's was at an even 50 percent (23 of 46).
--Olivia Mayer's previous high for Seattle Pacific was 23 points against Alaska Anchorage on Dec. 2. Her career high is 29 points with Whitworth last year in a game against Pacific Lutheran.
-- She also had two steals, the first of which was the 100th of her career.
-- SPU's 19 turnovers led to 19 Saint Martin's points. The Saints also turned it over 19 times, but the Falcons converted those into just nine points.
-- Along with her eight points, Hailey Marlow had four rebounds and three steals.
-- The Falcons had won their first five home games prior to Saturday.
-- Hunter Beirne led Seattle Pacific with seven rebounds, tying her season high. She also tied her season high with five assists.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons have just one game this coming week, playing host to GNAC-leading Montana State Billings on Saturday, Jan. 20, at 2:00 p.m. to wrap up a three-game homestand.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.
 
Saint Martin's 55, Seattle Pacific 52
 
SAINT MARTIN'S (3-9, 1-4 GNAC)
Smith 10-14 1-4 21, Lamet 1-8 0-0 2, Smith 3-6 1-2 8, Galbraith 5-10 1-2 13, Rios 1-4 2-6 5, Morris 2-3 0-0 4, Reed 0-0 0-0 0.  Totals 23-46 5-14 55.
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC (6-10, 3-3 GNAC)
Weatherspoon 2-11 0-0 4, Mayer 10-16 3-4 25, Berry 0-3 0-2 0, Beirne 2-6 0-0 5, Kearns 3-6 0-0 7, Marlow 3-9 0-0 8, Ohta 1-3 0-0 3, Bishop 0-1 0-0 0, Carlisle 0-0 0-0 0.  Totals 21-55 3-6 52.
 
Saint Martin's      10           16           15           14           -- 55
Seattle Pacific     13             9           15           15           -- 52
 
3-point goals – STM 4-11 (Lamet 0-2, Smith 1-2, Galbraith 2-4, Rios 1-2, Morris 0-1), SPU 7-19 (Mayer 2-6, Beirne 1-3, Kearns 1-3, Marlow 2-4, Ohta 1-3).  Fouled out – None.  Rebounds – STM 28 (Smith 9), SPU 33 (Beirne 7).  Assists – STM 9 (Lamet 4), SPU 11 (Beirne 5).  Turnovers (points allowed) – STM 19 (9), SPU 19 (19).  Total fouls – STM 11, SPU 15.  Technical fouls – None.  Attendance – 122.
 
 
Next game
Montana State Billings at Seattle Pacific
Saturday, Jan. 20     2:00 p.m.
Brougham Pavilion / Seattle, Wash.


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