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BELLINGHAM, Wash. - The 20th-ranked Western Washington University women's basketball team used a strong second half and 23 points from national scoring leader Taylor Peacocke in a 67-53 victory over Saint Martin's Thursday evening in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action at Whatcom Pavilion.

With their sixth consecutive victory, the Vikings improve to 12-3 overall and remain in a tie with Simon Fraser in second place in the GNAC with a 6-1 record. Saint Martin's falls to 5-10 overall and 1-6 in league play.

Peacocke (Sr., G, Kenmore, WA/Inglemoor) scored 16 of her game-high 23 points in the second half, as the Vikings pulled away from a 27-27 halftime tie by dominating the Saints 40-26 in the second half. Overall she was 9-for-23 from the field, setting a career high for field goals attempted.

Senior forward Kiana Gandy (Des Moines, WA/Mount Rainier) added 11 point and senior center Tia Briggs (Tacoma, WA/Wilson) narrowly missed the double-double with 10 points and 9 rebounds.

Senior forward Rachel Albert (Bellingham, WA/Sehome) recorded a game-high 13 rebounds, and also had 6 points and 5 assists on her 22nd birthday. Freshman guard Lexie Bland (Ellensburg, WA) continued her solid play leading Western with 6 assists and 5 steals.

Saint Martin's was led by 15 points from center Elin Johansson (6-for-13 FG) and 12 points from guard Baylee Olsen. The Saints shot 33.9% from the field (20-for-59) and were limited to 2-for-11 from 3-point range.

The Vikings started out slow trailing 9-2, not scoring for the first 4 minutes of the game. Trailing 12-4, WWU ended the quarter on a 11-0 run to take a 15-12 lead, with Gandy hitting a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Vikings their first lead of the game.

The second quarter proved to be much of the same, with SMU going on a 10-0 run to take a 25-20 lead. The Vikings closed out the quarter on a 7-2 run to pull even at 27-27 on a layup by Peacocke in the final seconds of the half. Peacocke and Gandy led WWU with 7 points apiece, with Albert pulling in 6 rebounds. Olsen led the Saints with 10 points on 4-for-8 shooting.

Western pulled away in the third quarter going on an 18-8 run after falling behind 32-29 in the opening minutes of the quarter. The extended run propelled the Vikings to a 7-point lead at 47-40 heading into the final quarter. Peacocke poured in 10 of her 23 points in the third quarter.

The Vikings continued the second half surge out-scoring the Saints 20-13 in the fourth quarter, led by 6 points from Peacocke and 4 points from Gandy.

"We started off extremely slow and missed a lot of open shots, but we hung in there and used our running game to get us going," said head coach Carmen Dolfo. "We had some good contributions off the bench to give us a lift and had a better second half."

Western Washington returns to action Saturday with a showdown against 11th-ranked Seattle Pacific (13-2, 5-2 GNAC) Saturday at 7 pm at Whatcom Pavilion. The Falcons were defeated 71-61 Thursday night at Simon Fraser to drop to 4th place in the GNAC.

Game Notes: Taylor Peacocke remains 5th in program history and 10th in GNAC history with 1,543 career points (15.1 points/game)...WWU attempted a season-low 6 free throws (previous low was 10)...Lexie Bland recorded career-highs with 6 assists and 5 steals...Rachel Albert recorded a career high 13 rebounds...WWU shot 43.8% (28-for-64), slightly below the season percentage of 46.6% entering the game (10th in NCAA II)...WWU had 17 points off turnovers and 10 fast-break points.

2016-17 GNAC Women's Basketball Standings