Belles Bow to Big Red

Box Score

NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. - The Saint Mary's basketball team fell 81-74 to #16/#12 Denison in the consolation game of the Manchester College Bankers' Classic on Saturday.

After the Big Red scored the first basket of the game, the Belles responded with six straight points to take a four-point lead on a pair of Patsy Mahoney free throws. Nationally-ranked Denison, however, responded quickly to tie the game at 8-8. The lead traded hands a couple of times before Denison took a 13-12 lead with 14:37 to go in the half.

Saint Mary's battled back to tie the game at 24-24 and 26-26 less than 10 minutes to go before halftime. After those ties, Denison regained the lead both times.

Into the second half, Denison maintained the lead until the 18:20 mark when Saint Mary's yet again tied the game at 42-42. Maggie Ronan then hit a pair of free throws to put the Belles up 44-42, but the Big Red again came back to take the lead. Denison would extend their lead to as much as 12 in the next few minutes while taking as much as 13-point lead in the second half.

The Belles edged within three points of the lead in the final minute on a Maggie Ronan three-pointer, but would not be able to get closer to the Big Red in the second half.

In their second game against a nationally-ranked team in the last week, the Denison bench out-scored the Belles 48-4 in the game while Saint Mary's held a 30-8 advantage in points off of turnovers.

Kelley Murphy had a game-high 23 points in the loss for Saint Mary's while adding nine rebounds and three assists. Jessica Centa added 16 points while Maggie Ronan (14) and Patsy Mahoney (13) also notched double-digit scoring in the game for the Belles.

After the completion of the tournament, senior Jessica Centa was named to the all-tournament team for her performance in the Belles' two contests. Centa scored 30 points on 14-19 shooting from the floor.

The Belles (1-2) return home to host Anderson on Tuesday, November 22 at 7:30 p.m.