Women’s basketball
Saint Martin’s vs. Simon Fraser – Marcus Pavilion – 7:00 PM

The first place Saint Martin’s women face their biggest test of the season so far when they host Simon Fraser tonight and Western Washington on Saturday. The Saints are coming off an Alaska split last weekend. They fell in a bit of a head scratcher to Alaska-Fairbanks on Thursday night but bounced back behind Angela Gelhar’s 36 points to knock off Alaska-Anchorage 85-78 and reclaimed sole possession of the GNAC’s top spot at 4-1.

Tonight, Simon Fraser rolls into Marcus Pavilion sitting just one game behind the Saints at 3-2. The Clan lost maybe the best player in GNAC history, Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe, to graduation but Erin Chambers has picked up the slack and is leading the GNAC with 22.5 points per game. They are 9-4 overall and are just outside of the top 25 in NCAA Division II with 48 votes.

Live video can be seen and heard here with me, Brandon Sparks, on the call beginning at 7:00 PM.

Saint Martin’s guard Riley Carel was named the GNAC Player of the Week for his performances against Montana State-Billings and Seattle Pacific – an upset of the #11 ranked team in the nation in which Carel scored 17 points with eight assists against the school that he transferred from after the 2011-2012 season.

Here is the press release from the Saint Martin’s athletics department:

PORTLAND, Ore. – Saint Martin’s University men’s basketball Riley Carel was selected as the GNAC / Red Lion Men’s Basketball Player of the Week as announced today by the conference.

Carel, a 6-2 junior guard from Enumclaw, Wash., scored 29 points, including 17 in SMU’s 73-69 win over 11th-ranked Seattle Pacific on Saturday as the Saints beat the Falcons for just the third time in the 13-year history of the conference. He also had career highs for assists (8) and steals (5) in the win, while grabbing six rebounds and making seven of 12 shots.

He has scored in double figures in four-straight games for the Saints helping SMU to win three of its last four. During that stretch he is averaging 13.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.5 steals while shooting 50 percent from the field and 83.3 percent from the free throw line.

This season he ranks second in the GNAC in steals (1.8) and 13th in assists (3.0) while averaging 10.1 points per game and 4.9 rebounds shooting 41.3 percent from the field and 77.8 percent from the free throw line.

The Saints (5-7, 2-2 GNAC) are on the road this week in GNAC play traveling to Central Washington on Thursday, Jan. 9th for a game at 7:00 pm. SMU heads to Northwest Nazarene for a game on Saturday, Jan. 11th at 6:00 pm.

Saint Martin’s 77, Western Oregon 46 – Recap
Team	1st	2nd	Final
Western Oregon (1-2 GNAC, 4-7 overall)	20	26	46
Saint Martin’s (3-0 GNAC, 9-3 overall)	49	28	77
SMU leader: Paulson, Mills – 18 points

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.

Saint Martin’s 73, #11 Seattle Pacific 69 – Recap
Team	1st	2nd	Final
Seattle Pacific (2-2 GNAC, 11-4 overall)	34	35	69
Saint Martin’s (2-2 GNAC, 5-7 overall)	33	40	73
SMU leader: Rogers, Carel – 17 points

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.