LACEY, Wash. – The Western Washington University women's basketball team had its season-high six-game winning streak snapped with a 71-63 road loss Saturday night in Marcus Pavilion.

WWU had its 24-game winning streak vs. Saint Martin's snapped, with the Saints defeating the Vikings for the first time since Jan. 26, 2008, a span of over 12 years.

The Vikings slipped to 16-6 overall and is now in 4^th place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference with a 10-4 record. Saint Martin's kept its postseason hopes alive snapping a four-game losing streak to improve to 10-11 overall and 5-9 in GNAC play. 

Western held a 35-30 halftime lead, but the Saints capitalized on a late 7-0 run to end the 2^nd quarter to gain momentum going into the second half. Beginning the second half on a 14-5 run, the Saints built a 44-40 lead. WWU answered with a 10-1 run to take a 54-47 lead with 1:39 remaining in the 3^rdquarter.

The Saints again ended the 3^rd-quarter on a 6-0 run to pull to within one point at 54-53 heading into the final quarter, and then out-scored the Vikings 18-9 over the final 10 minutes to pull off the upset victory. Saint Martin's out-scored the Vikings 41-28 in the second half, including a 18-9 margin in the 4^th quarter.

WWU was limited to 39.3% shooting for the game (24-for-61), well below its GNAC-leading mark of 46.6% entering the game. The Vikings were just 2-for-19 from 3-point range, including 1-for-14 in the second half.

Junior guard Emma Duff and sophomore forward Katrina Gimmaka each scored 10 points for the Vikings. The balanced offense also featured 8 points each from senior center Anna Schwecke, junior forward Kelsey Rogers, junior guard Gracie Castaneda and sophomore guard Mollie Olson. Duff led the Vikings with 8 rebounds, but WWU was out-rebounded 36-33 by the Saints.

Tierney DeDonatis led all players with 24 points on 7-for-12 shooting, going 3-for-5 from 3-point range and 7-for-9 from the 3-point range. Three-time GNAC Player of the Week Bria Thames recorded a 15-point, 11-rebound double-double. Janealle Sutterlict added 17 points on 5-for-11 shooting (4-for-9 3FG) and Claire Dingus grabbed 11 rebounds.

SMU shot 44.0% from the field overall (22-for-50), but connected on 8-of-21 3-point attempts (38.1%) and were 19-for-25 from the free throw line.

The Vikings (16-6, 10-4 GNAC) returns home next week to host Northwest Nazarene (Thursday) and Central Washington (Saturday) in GNAC games on WECU Court in Carver Gym. Both games feature a 7 pm tip-off.

The Vikings had their 24-game winning streak against Saint Martin's snapped, marking the first loss vs. the Saints since Jan. 26, 2008. WWU leads the all-time series 73-11 and is 44-2 dating back to 1998 vs. SMU.

Here is a look at the updated Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings through games played on Saturday, with the Vikings slipping into 4^th place behind Alaska Anchorage (13-1), Northwest Nazarene (11-3) and Simon Fraser (11-3).

More information on WWU Basketball can be found online at WWUVikings.com/WBB and via social media on Twitter (@WWUBasketball), Instagram (@wwu.basketball) and Facebook (@WWUwomensbball).

One of the premier basketball programs in NCAA Division II, recording a 20-win season in seven of the last 11 seasons, and 34 times in the 48-year history of the program. WWU has 20 seasons of 20 or more wins under head coach Carmen Dolfo, who is the winningest coach of any sport at WWU and ranks among Division II active and all-time coaching leaders in wins with 606, win percentage and 20-win seasons. The Vikings have reached the NCAA II Tournament in 16 of 21 seasons at the Division II level with two trips to the Final Four. The program has 1,038 all-time wins in the 48-year history of the program, and according to available records, is one of just 16 women's college basketball team across all divisions and levels to reach the milestone.