NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Saint Mary's basketball team fell in an 83-75 contest against visiting Anderson on Tuesday evening.

 

The two sides battled back-and-forth over the opening ten minutes of play. Devan Buda got the Belles on the scoreboard with a three-pointer before the Ravens claimed a 12-3 lead with nine consecutive points. Claire Bartz powered her way into the lane for a layup, and Caitlin Bonnesen added a layup of her own to make it a 12-7 game. Anderson countered with a layup at the other end, but the Belles got an offensive rebound and put-back bucket by Bella Dugas with two minutes remaining to cut the deficit back to five points. Bartz and Elle Deardorff both converted trips to the free throw line into four points down the stretch, and Saint Mary's took some momentum into the second period trailing just 14-13.

 

Deardorff drew a shooting foul and hit two more free throws to open the second quarter before draining a three-pointer for an 18-14 lead for Saint Mary's. Another Deardorff triple started a seven-point spurt with Maddie Rzepka and Anne Goralczyk each getting into the scoring column for the Belles. The Ravens edged within a point at 25-24 only to see Devan Buda sink a three-pointer of her own to maintain the lead for Saint Mary's. Anderson knotted the game a short while later at 29-29, but Buda came up with four good free throws for the Belles for a 33-29 advantage. Saint Mary's continued to find an answer for Anderson over the remainder of the quarter as the Belles carried a 42-38 lead into the halftime break.

 

The Belles built their largest lead of the game with a good jumper by Maddie Rzepka for a 50-43 lead and matched that same lead on their next possession with another bucket by Rzepka. The Ravens, however, went on a 20-4 run over the final five minutes of the quarter for a 65-56 lead going into the fourth period.

 

Nikki Murphy hit a layup on the fastbreak, and Maddie Rzepka connected from behind the arc for a three-pointer as the Ravens called a timeout early in the fourth quarter with the score at 65-61. Deardorff dialed in from long distance again on an extended possession for the Belles as Saint Mary's edged within a point at 65-64 with just over seven minutes remaining. Back-to-back baskets by Anderson followed by a three-point play, however, gave the Ravens a 72-64 lead midway through the stanza. A stretch of good shots by Saint Mary's was unable to yield points as the bounces did not go the way of the Belles, and Anderson pushed their lead to 76-66 with under three minutes to play. The Belles continued to battle down the stretch with Bella Dugas and Anne Goralczyk finding points late, but Saint Mary's could not get within fewer than seven points as the Ravens claimed the 83-75 final.

 

The Belles out-rebounded the Ravens 48-42 with a 15-8 advantage in offensive boards. Saint Mary's converted those chances into 18 points to Anderson's six second-chance points. The Belles connected on a season-best 17 free throws after shooting 85 percent (17-of-20) from the charity stripe.

 

Elle Deardorff led five Saint Mary's players in double-digit scoring with 15. Maddie Rzepka scored 13, Devan Buda chipped in 12, and Anne Goralczyk and Bella Dugas each scored 11 for the Belles. Dugas registered a double-double in the setback with 12 rebounds, and Goralczyk had a season-high three blocked shots while narrowly missing the double-double with nine boards. Nikki Murphy had a team-best five assists to go along with seven rebounds.

 

The Belles (1-5) open conference play next Wednesday, December 1 at home when they host Albion at 7:00 p.m.