NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Saint Mary's basketball team could not get their shots to fall in a 68-42 setback against Albion on Wednesday night.
The game was tight through much of the first quarter of play. After the Brits scored on their first chance, the Belles responded with a bucket by
Athena Samson at the other end. Albion countered with a three-pointer, but Samson had the answer again with an offensive rebound and put-back bucket. The visitors used a pair of free throws and back-to-back buckets to gain an 11-4 advantage four minutes into play.
Mary Kate Gareau got the Belles back in the scoring column with two free throws, and
Julia Schutz hit a driving layup to make it a three-point game at 11-8. Two more Albion free throws made it 13-8, but
Elle Deardorff knocked down a three-pointer to make it a 13-11 game with more than three minutes still on the clock. Albion, however, closed out the quarter with six unanswered points for a 19-11 lead after ten minutes of play.
Albion hit the opening bucket of the second quarter, but
Kate Restovich hit a tough turnaround jumper in the paint for the Belles to put the difference back at eight. The sides traded buckets for a two-minute span with Restovich and
Elle Deardorff both sinking three-pointers to make it 28-19. A scoreless stretch by both sides was ended by a layup by
Julia Schutz as the Belles pulled within seven. The Brits got a pair of buckets in the paint before Deardorff hit another three-pointer to bring the deficit down to single digits yet again at 32-24 with two minutes to go. Albion connected on two free throws with six seconds on the clock, but Deardorff added a free throw of her own with eight-tenths of a second on the scoreboard to push the score to 34-25 at halftime.
Kate Restovich connected on both ends of a trip to the charity stripe to open the third period to make it a seven-point game early. Albion, however, scored on three of their next four possessions while the Belles came up empty-handed on four consecutive possessions as the Brits went ahead 40-27. The Restovich duo pushed the tempo on Saint Mary's next chance as Annie scored on a layup on a leading pass from Kate. While neither side had much success in getting buckets over the next three-and-a-half minutes, Albion was able to get a pair of shots to fall for a 44-29 lead.
Julia Schutz converted a free throw with more than two minutes to play, and
Kate Restovich hit a shot in the lane in the final minute as the Belles trailed 46-32 going into the fourth period.
Julia Schutz made a layup while being fouled and hit the and-one free throw in the opening minute to pull Saint Mary's within 46-35. The Brits, however, used a game-changing 13-0 run over the next four minutes of play to build a 59-35 advantage.
Kate Restovich used the old fashioned three-point play to break up the scoreless stretch for the Belles.
Lauren Gumma added a free throw a short while later, and
Alyssa Matuza drained a three-pointer in the final minute as the Belles were unable to mount a late comeback in the 68-42 final.
The Belles were held to their lowest shooting percentage of the season (23.3 percent) as Saint Mary's was able to connect on 14-of-60 shots from the floor and added 9-of-16 free throws. Albion hit 26-of-71 shots (36.6 percent) on the night and were 13-of-13 from the free throw line. The Brits held a 60-33 advantage in rebounds while only holding a plus-eight (16-8) edge in second chance points.
The Belles (5-12, 2-6 MIAA) begin their second round of MIAA competition on Saturday when they travel to Calvin for a 1:00 p.m. contest.
