DUBUQUE, Iowa - The Saint Mary's basketball team fell in a 104-50 final against Simpson on day two of the Loras Holiday Classic on Saturday.
Julia Schutz got the Belles on the scoreboard with a driving layup on the first possession of the contest and added a three-pointer moments later for a 5-0 lead a minute into the contest. The Storm used a quick transition offense to get a layup seconds later before a defense to offense chance saw a steal yield three points for Simpson while tying the game 5-5. Another chance in transition put the Storm up 7-5, but
Kate Restovich had the answer less than a minute later with a three-pointer for an 8-5 Saint Mary's advantage. The lead continued to go back-and-forth with
Julia Schutz using a layup for a 10-9 lead for the Belles with under seven minutes on the clock.
Athena Samson had the answer to a three-pointer by the Storm with a layup to knot the game at 12-12 with 6:13 on the clock. Simspon hit a shot on their next possession, and moved quickly from defense to offense on their next chance to build a 16-12 lead midway through the quarter.
Mary Kate Gareau got the Belles back on the scoreboard with a free throw to make it a three-point difference with 4:44 to go in the quarter. The Storm, however, used a full-court press to turn the Belles over and while averaging less than 10 seconds per possession as Simpson used a game-changing 20-0 run for a 36-16 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter saw
Julia Schutz open things up with a three-point play with a layup and the and-one free throw.
Athena Samson had a pair of buckets, and
Mary Kate Gareau added a pair of free throws as the Belles kept an even pace with the Storm in the period.
Kate Restovich cleaned up the offensive glass and hit the put-back layup with under four minutes to go, and a
Mary Kate Gareau jumper off of a feed from
Nicole Connolly gave the Belles a 13-12 scoring advantage in the quarter with 2:38 on the clock. Simpson, however, converted a trio of late turnovers into points at the other end over the final two minutes of the quarter to hold a 54-26 lead at the half.
The Belles had trouble getting shots to fall throughout the third quarter of action as Saint Mary's was limited to 1-of-15 from the floor while the Storm hit 57.1 percent (12-of-21) attempts during the period.
Julia Schutz connected on a three-pointer less than two minutes into the third, but Simpson went on to put the next 19 points on the scoreboard over a span of 4:45 despite the Belles getting several good looks at the bucket.
Nyah Porter broke up the scoreless stretch with a free throw with 2:19 on the clock. A pair of late buckets by the Storm gave Simpson an 81-30 advantage going into the final period.
Much like the second quarter, the scoring throughout the fourth stanza was very even with the Storm edging the Belles 23-20 over the final ten minutes of play. Both sides hit over 45 percent of their shots during the final quarter of action, and the Belles held a 5-2 edge in made three-pointers during the fourth quarter.
Lauren Gumma hit a layup in transition after an
Alyssa Matuza steal and assist, and
Elle Deardorff drained back-to-back three-pointers.
Kate Restovich added a three-pointer of her own before Deardorff connected on her third triple of the quarter with under four minutes to play.
Julia Schutz got in on the scoring with a pair of free throws, Deardorff dialed in another three-pointer, and Schutz added a late free throw in the 104-50 final.
Despite getting good looks at the basket on the offensive end, the Belles were held to a 29.8 percent (17-of-57) shooting effort in the contest. The Storm hit 46.3 percent (37-of-80) of their shots. The Storm made 10 three-pointers to the Belles' eight, and Simpson outscored Saint Mary's 41-4 in points off of turnovers in the contest.
The Belles (3-9) are back in action on Wednesday, January 3 when they host Kalamazoo for a conference game at 6:00 p.m.
