#5 Hope Holds Off Saint Mary’s, 79-71
Box Score
NOTRE DAME, IN – Hope overcame a very game effort from Saint Mary’s to post a 79-71 victory over the Belles Saturday afternoon in the final regular season game for both teams.
Hope improves their record to 21-3 overall and 13-3 in MIAA play while Saint Mary’s falls to 11-12 and 10-6 respectively. Each team will hosts first-round MIAA tournament games next Tuesday. Hope, the tournament’s second seed, will play Tri-State while the Belles, the third seed, will host Alma. Both games will be Tuesday evening at 7:30 p.m.
In the opening half the lead exchanged hands on six occasions with the score tied on three separate instances as the Flying Dutch held a 36-33 at intermission.
In the second frame, the Flying Dutch pushed their lead up to 46-37 with 15:24 left in the game. Saint Mary’s responded with a 13-2 scoring spurt to take a 50-48 advantage with 11:31 remaining. Neither team held a lead larger than three points for the next 4:28.
Saint Mary’s held their final lead of the afternoon at 60-59 with 7:03 left. Hope put the game away by scoring 13 of the game’s next 16 points in taking a nine-point lead, their largest of the second half, at 72-63 with 2:14 left. Hope didn’t hit a field goal the rest of the game but went 7-of-8 from the foul line down the stretch to seal the win.
Hope held a 32-16 advantage in points in the paint during the contest.
Alison Kessler led all scorers in the contest by posting a 28-point effort. Erin Newsom (12) and Nicole Beier (12) each chipped in a double figure scoring effort while senior Bridget Lipke contributed 11 during her final regular season home game.
Ellen Wood posted a 20-point, 15-rebound effort in the victory.
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