Portland, Ore. | Thursday evening the Warner Pacific Women's Basketball team lost a hard-fought battle to the Saint Martin's Saints 51-61 in their first home game of the season.
 
In a game that came down to the closing minutes, the Saints got the best of the Knights tonight. Going into halftime, the Saints had an efficient first half from the field, shooting 45%. As both teams each put up 15 points in the second quarter, the Knights headed into the locker room down 7 at the break. Although the Knights made a couple runs throughout the second half to cut the lead to 2, the Knights were unable to close out the game as starting guard Kylie Guelsdorf was unable to finish after injuring her ankle right before halftime after contributing 6 points in the first half.
 
"I was happy with how we played. That was our third game. We just haven't had enough time to detail things" Coach Gregg stated post game. "Saint Martin's is in mid-season form right now after their 11^th game, and we were right there with them. Just keep adding things and detailing what we already have and hopefully by the start of league-play (March 19^th) things will be much cleaner."
 
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The Rundown
 
Down 6 going into the 4^th quarter, the Knights looked to make a run quick. But the Saints had other plans, as they came out the huddle and immediately extended the lead to 12 with 7:30 left in the game. The Knights responded, as Coach Matt Gregg wanted to keep applying the pressure with the Knights' full court press. A couple steals, a technical foul from Saint's coach Christy Martin, and a couple defensive stops later, the Knights found themselves down by 2 with 4:30 left to play. However, the Knights struggled to close out the final minutes on Thursday night. After a couple of Knights' turnovers, the Saint's went on to win the contest by 10.
 
Deeper Look
 
With starting guard Kylie Guelsdorf down, the Knights were looking for people to step up. Anna Farner contributed 6 points and 4 rebounds for the Knights, 2 which were offensive boards. The Knights were led by Senior, Gabriella Bruno, with 21 points. In the 4^th quarter, Gabriella and Saint Martin's Clair Dingus exchanged baskets down the stretch. Both putting up double digits in the 4^th quarter alone. Dingus ended the game with 24 points.
 
Flash Forward
 
The Knights get a shot at redemption, as they head to Lacey, Washington to face off against Saint Martin's on their home floor on Saturday, March 6^th at 6PM.