Comeback Comes Up Short for Belles Against Bulldogs

Box Score

ADRIAN, Mich. - Trailing by 16 points in the second half, the Saint Mary's basketball team cut that deficit to four points but were unable to overtake Adrian on the road as the host Bulldogs claimed the 66-58 decision.

The Belles opened up the game with the first two baskets to take a 4-0 lead. Adrian hit a three-pointer, and the teams traded baskets until midway through the half. Saint Mary's had back-to-back jumpers to claim a 14-13 advantage. The Bulldogs responded with a 16-3 run over the final 6:41 of the first half to take a 29-17 lead into the break.

Adrian staked the largest lead of the game 4:44 into the second period by pushing their advantage to 16. The Belles battled back, chipped away, and got within six points of the Bulldogs with 7:52 to go when Shanlynn Bias converted a steal by Ariana Paul into two points. Two minutes later, another steal by Paul resulted in a good jumper in the paint by Eleni Shea to get Saint Mary's within four points with 5:27 remaining. Again for the Belles, a steal resulted in points as Bias had a takeaway and Bernadette Jordan slashed through the lane for a layup to again get Saint Mary's within four points at 56-52 with 3:57 left on the clock.

The Bulldogs again responded with an 8-2 run over the next three minutes to regain a double-digit lead with 39 seconds remaining.

For the game, Adrian made 23 trips to the charity stripe while connecting on nine of those attempts. Saint Mary's hit all six of their free throw attempts on the night. The Bulldogs held a 44-24 scoring advantage in the paint.

Shanlynn Bias led all players with a career-high 20 points for the Belles. Eleni Shea and Ariana Paul both had 12 points and seven rebounds, and Sarah Macius shot 5-of-6 from the floor for 10 points.

The Belles (2-4, 0-1 MIAA) return home to host Olivet on Saturday, December 1 for a 3:00 p.m. MIAA game against the Comets.

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