The Simpson College women’s basketball team came up just short on Sunday, falling 76-70 to Saint Mary’s despite a career-best 27 points from Maddax DeVault.

DeVault sank five triples, including one with 20 seconds left to bring Simpson (2-3) within 74-70, but the Storm couldn’t fully erase a strong third quarter by the Cardinals. Saint Mary’s (5-1) shot 61.1 percent in the third leg while outscoring the Storm 31-19.

Simpson controlled the early tempo and used a 14-5 run spanning the first and second quarters to build a 23-14 advantage. The Cardinals clawed back to make it 27-25 at the break, then took the lead for good with a decisive 16-6 run to close the third period.