NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Saint Mary's basketball team erased an eight-point deficit over the final three minutes of play but were unable to get a last-second go-ahead shot to fall as the Belles fell in a 56-52 final against Elmhurst on Wednesday evening.
Both sides had trouble getting their offenses to click early going in the contest as the game remained scoreless until
Bella Dugas connected on a second-chance jumper with 7:52 on the clock in the first quarter. The Belles kept the Bluejays off the scoreboard until just under the seven-minute mark, and Elmhurst added a second bucket on their next possession for a 5-2 advantage. The teams traded points back-and-forth with
Sophie Koeppl connecting from long distance and
Olivia Lathers converting a pair of free throws to make it a 7-7 score with 3:43 remaining. Elmhurst hit a layup and a three-pointer, but a mid-range bucket by
Christina Shadid made it a 12-9 score through ten minutes of action.
A put-back layup by
Maddie Rzepka more than a minute into the second quarter edged the Belles within a point at 12-11, and Rzepka and Koeppl added back-to-back buckets a short while later to knot the game at 15-15. The teams then hit a scoreless drought of nearly three minutes before the Bluejays took the lead.
Jade Mosier kept the next Saint Mary's possession alive with an offensive rebound, and
Hannah Cavanaugh fed a pass to a wide-open
Nikki Murphy on the block as Murphy connected with a layup to tie the game yet again at 17-17. Rzepka then added a three-pointer, and Koeppl made a pair of free throws to give the Belles a 22-17 lead with 2:17 on the clock. Elmhurst connected on a three-pointer on their next possession, and neither team was able to get another shot to fall over the remainder of the quarter as the Belles took a 22-20 lead into the halftime break.
Jade Mosier opened the third quarter with a three-pointer, and
Maddie Rzepka added a trey of her own a few minutes later as Saint Mary's held a 30-26 advantage with 7:02 on the clock. The Bluejays countered with a three-pointer and a pair of layups to gain a 33-30 lead. After another scoreless stretch of two-plus minutes,
Christina Shadid hit a layup to edge the Belles within one at 33-32. Elmhurst, however, closed out the final two minutes of the quarter with a 7-0 run to go ahead 40-32 through three periods of play.
The Bluejays took a pair of nine-point leads in the fourth quarter, the second of those leads coming at 49-40 with 4:25 remaining in the period. The Belles still had a lot of fight left to give in the contest.
Christina Shadid connected on a jump shot, and
Olivia Lathers grabbed a big offensive board before being fouled and hitting a free throw to make it 49-43 with 3:31 on the clock. The Bluejays gained an eight-point lead with a layup on their next possession, but
Maddie Rzepka hit another three-pointer to re-energize the Saint Mary's side. Rzepka came up with a steal and a layup in transition a minute later, and Shadid added a steal which led to a
Bella Dugas layup to make it a 51-50 game with 40 seconds remaining.
Bella Dugas then came up with a big steal on an in-bounds play with 20 seconds on the clock to give the Belles a chance to take the lead.
Jade Mosier hit a tough layup on that ensuing possession to put Saint Mary's up 52-51 with 15 seconds still to play. The Bluejays used a timeout to advance the ball to the front court and got a fortunate bounce off the rim for a layup with 11 seconds on the clock to gain a 53-52 lead. A turnover by Saint Mary's on the next possession forced the Belles into fouling the Bluejays in order to get the ball back late.
Jade Mosier's potential game-tying three-pointer, however, was just narrowly off the mark, and Elmhurst added a late free throw for the 56-52 decision.
The Belles were held to a 30.4 percent (21-of-69) shooting effort from the floor while the Bluejays posted a 37.3 percent (22-of-59) effort.
The Belles (2-3) are back at home again on Saturday when they host Defiance at 1:00 p.m.
