The Saint Martin’s women exploded for 49 points in the first half on the back of Brooke Paulson’s four three pointers and cruised in the second half to knock off Western Oregon 77-46 at Marcus Pavilion. The Saints hit eight threes in the first half including two from Jordyn Richardson and a buzzer beater banker by Jori Skorpik to give the Saints their highest scoring half since a 52 point outburst against Abilene Christian in 2005.

Paulson and Liz Mills came off the bench at the 16:18 mark of the first half and provided instant offense extending an 8-4 Saints lead to 20 in just seven minutes. Paulson hit three straight three pointers and finished the half with 14 points, only missing out on five three pointers in the half when her fourth shot came with just a foot inside the arc. Mills scored nine points in the first half and continued that into the second half with another nine to finish with 18.

Chelsea Haskey scored 15 points, including a pair from long distance, and pulled down nine boards. The Saints outrebounded the Wolves 46-36 and forced Western into 27 turnovers in holding their opponent to under 50 points for the fourth time this year and under 60 for the sixth time on their home court.

Dana Goularte scored half of Western Oregon’s points, 23 and grabbed 15 rebounds with three blocks.

The Saints sit alone at the top of the GNAC standings at 3-0 and are 9-3 overall. They will make their annual frozen trip to Alaska next weekend.

In game two, the Saint Martin’s men took a 15 point lead in the second half but #11 Seattle Pacific came roaring back to tie the game at 69 with 1:14 left to play. But Ryan Rogers drove to the left block, spun into the lane, made the layup and drew the foul. That proved to be the game winning basket and the Saints held on to a shocking 73-69 upset.

Down 34-33 at the half, Saint Martin’s went on a 21-5 run over the first seven minutes of the second half to take a 54-39 lead capped off by a Brad Norman layup at the 13:19 mark.

After Riley Carel’s jumper put the Saints up 58-45 with 11:18 left, David Downs took over for SPU. Downs was frustrated all night by suffocating defense but foul trouble forced Carel and Evan Coulter off of him and Downs took advantage scoring the Falcons’ next 11 points, a run that cut the Saints lead to 60-56 with 8:09 to play.

The Saints held the Falcons at bay until Brendan Carroll drove the baseline and finished the layup despite Coulter hacking him across the arms. Carroll finished the three point play to tie the game at 69. Downs missed a layup on the next possession after Rogers gave the Saints the lead and an open go ahead three pointer with 13 second left. Rogers hit two free throws with 10 second left to seal the deal for the Saints.

Carel and Rogers each scored 17 points and Coulter chipped in 16 points in the win. Carel, who transferred from Seattle Pacific after the 2011-2012 season, also led the Saints with six rebounds and eight assists in his first game against his former school.

Downs scored 24 points for Seattle Pacific and Carroll finished with 15 points off the bench. Only five Falcons scored in the game and reigning GNAC defensive player of the year Riley Stockton was a complete non-factor. He finished with no points, no steals and five fouls. SPU was without their second leading scorer, Patrick Simon, who sat out with an injury to his right hand.

The Saints improved to 5-7 overall and are now 2-2 in the GNAC. They will hit the road for the next three games and will return to Marcus Pavilion on Thursday, January 23rd for a 9:00 PM matchup with Alaska-Fairbanks that will be televised on Root Sports Northwest.