Box Score

LACEY, Wash. - ­Senior guard Taylor Peacocke scored the go-ahead layup with 2.5 seconds left as the No. 12/21 Western Washington University women's basketball team battled back from a halftime deficit to edge Saint Martin's, 59-57, on Saturday evening at Marcus Pavilion.

The Vikings (21-3, 15-1 GNAC) extended their win streak to 15 games while the Saints dropped to 5-19 overall and 1-15 in conference play.

Tied 57-57 with 7.9 seconds left after a timeout, Peacocke (Kenmore, WA/Inglemoor) received an inbound pass near the half court line and drove to her left before spinning to her right at the free throw line to get to the basket and finish a contested right-handed layup with 2.5 seconds to play.

The Saints immediately called a timeout following Peacocke's basket, which advanced the ensuing inbound pass to the SMU offensive side of the court. Following the timeout, Hannah Reynolds received the inbound pass and made a move to get off a 3-pointer from near the top of the arc as time expired, but the ball caromed off the side of the rim as the Vikings held on.

WWU faced a 54-53 deficit with 1:52 left before opening a 57-54 lead over the Saints with 20 seconds remaining following a pair of free throws from senior guard Aleisha Hathaway (Spokane, WA/Shadle Park). Senior center Tia Briggs (Tacoma, WA/Wilson) had hit two free throws with 1:34 to play to give WWU the 55-54 lead.

A 3-pointer from Baylee Olson with 7.9 seconds remaining in the game had tied the contest at 57-57 before the Vikings called a timeout to set up the go-ahead layup play from Peacocke.

WWU battled back from a 30-22 deficit at halftime and trailed by 10 points early in the third quarter. The Vikings opened the third quarter on a 14-5 run to take their first lead of the quarter at 36-35 with 3:50 to play. The Saints responded to extend a lead back out to 6 points at 47-41 early in the fourth quarter before a 12-3 run from the Vikings, capped by a 3-point play from Briggs, gave WWU a 53-50 lead with 2:35 remaining.

Tied 14-14 after the first quarter, the Saints surged ahead with a 12-4 run over the last 7:54 of the second quarter to lead 30-22 at the half after the teams were tied at 18-18 early in the period. Fifteen of WWU's 21 turnovers in the game came during the first and second quarters as the Vikings were 7-for-21 from the field before halftime.

Senior Kiana Gandy (Des Moines, WA/Mount Rainer) scored a game-high 20 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field, including 12 points after halftime. She added 7 rebounds and a career-high 4 steals. Her 10 field goals tied a career high.

Peacocke finished with 17 points and a game-high 4 assists while Briggs added 16 points and 5 rebounds, connecting on 10-of-11 free throw attempts.

Gandy, Briggs, and Peacocke combined to score 53 points on Saturday as WWU finished 20-for-47 from the field (42.6%). The Vikings were only 1-of-8 (12.5%) from 3-point range but made 18-of-20 (90.0%) free throws.

Senior forward Rachel Albert (Bellingham, WA/Sehome) pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds as WWU held a 37-23 rebounding advantage in the game.

Reynolds led SMU with 17 points while Elin Johansson added 15 points and Mercedes Victor contributed 12. The Saints finished 22-of-55 (40.0%) from the field but were just 3-of-15 (20.0%) from long range.

The Vikings will host Simon Fraser in Bellingham on Tuesday (7 pm) next week before returning to the road to face Montana State Billings on Thursday (7:30 pm MT/6:30 pm PT).

GAME NOTES: The 15-game winning streak is tied for 4th-longest in program history and longest since a 19-game win streak Dec. 11, 2010-Feb. 22, 2011...Kiana Gandy tied a career high with 10 field goals made on Saturday (10-for-15) and set a career high with 4 steals...Taylor Peacocke is 4th in GNAC history with 1,741 points...Peacocke is also 3rd in WWU history and 45 points behind Gina Sampson (1992-96, 1,786 points) in 2nd...Tia Briggs has finished in double figures scoring in 9 of her last 10 games.

-- @WWUWBB--

W🏀: Taylor Peacocke for the 59-57 lead with 3 seconds left at Saint Martin's!#GoViks pic.twitter.com/N20YY0slgC

- WWU Athletics (@WWUAthletics) February 12, 2017