Dara Zack recorded game highs of 19 points and nine rebounds on Friday night to lead the visiting Saint Martin's Saints to a 76-62 non-conference women's basketball win over Pacific Lutheran in Olson Auditorium.

Saint Martin's, which improved its season record to 6-3, broke away from a 5-5 tie with a 9-0 run, highlighted by Roni Jo Mielke's three-point basket. After PLU cut its deficit to five points, the Saints took their first double-digit lead of the night at 20-9 on Mielke's jumper with 12:03 left. Less than 30 seconds later, Zack knocked down a three-point basket to cap a 9-0 run that gave the Saints a 23-9 lead. They eventually built a 19-point lead at the half, 42-34.

The Saints continued to pull away from the Lutes in the second half, leading by as many as 31 points. Megan Teade's three-point shot gave the visitors a 65-34 advantage with 11:29 remaining in the contest. With Jordan Westering scoring 13 consecutive points, the Lutes were able to battle back enough to cut the Saint Martin's lead to 14 points, but they could get no closer.

Zack was 7-for-10 from the field, including 2-for-2 from beyond the arc, and had five of her nine rebounds on the offensive end. Mielke poured in 16 points for the Saints, including 4-for-5 from three-point range, and Krissy Bassett added 11 points. The Saints shot 54 percent in the first half (15-for-28) and finished at 49 percent (27-for-55) for the game. They also enjoyed a 41-34 edge in rebounds.

Westering led the Lutes with 16 points, followed by Sara Backstrom with 12. Meghan Dowling paced PLU in rebounds with six. In dropping their seventh straight game and seeing their record fall to 1-7, the Lutes shot just 34 percent (23-for-67) from the field, including 25 percent accuracy (5-for-20) from beyond the arc.

Pacific Lutheran returns to action at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 30, when it hosts Wisconsin-Eau Claire in the team's final non-conference contest of the season.

- PLU -