Belles Tripped Up by Bulldogs
NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Saint Mary's basketball team lost a 76-66 MIAA contest against visiting Adrian on Wednesday night.
After the Bulldogs jumped out to a 7-2 lead through the first 2:32, the Belles responded right back with nine consecutive points to pull ahead by an 11-7 score with 13:50 left in the first half. Maddie Kohler, Ariana Paul, Eleni Shea, and Krista Knapke all got in on the scoring during what proved to be the Belles' largest run of the game.
When the Belles returned to their offensive half of the court, Shanlynn Bias gave the Belles another four-point cushion on a second-chance jump shot with 12:49 to go.
Six unanswered points by Adrian regained the lead for the Bulldogs, but Saint Mary's countered with six points in-a-row to go ahead by 19-15 margin. A pair of layups tied the game at 19-19 with 7:13 remaining. Again, the Belles maintained their edge with a second-chance layup by Katerine Wabler. After the fifth tie of the first half, Saint Mary's again was able to respond with a bucket - this time by Timoney Moyer - to hold a 23-21 advantage with 5:33 left before the half.
Krista Knapke led the Belles with 16
points against Adrian.This time, however, the lead was short-lived as the Bulldogs hit a three-pointer on their next possession and added a layup a minute later for the 26-23 lead. Saint Mary's got back within a point on a pair of free throws by Krista Knapke, but Adrian was able to close out the half with a three-point lead heading into the break.
The teams traded buckets to open the second period of play before the Bulldogs used a 10-2 spurt to claim a 46-35 lead less than five minutes into the half. Adrian extended their advantage to 14 points at 54-40 with 11:10 to go.
Saint Mary's cut that lead in half with a 9-2 run over the next 3:25 to trail 56-49 with 7:45 remaining. The Belles were unable to cut any deeper into the lead as Adrian regained a 10-point lead on a three-point play and held at least an 8-point advantage over the rest of the contest.
Adrian outscored the Belles in points in the paint (38-26) and points off of turnovers (23-15) while Saint Mary's held the rebounding advantage (40-29). The Bulldogs also connected on 53.7 percent of their field goal attempts to the Belles' 41.3 field goal percentage.
Krista Knapke led the Belles with 16 points while adding seven rebounds. Ariana Paul had 13 points and a team-best eight rebounds. Shanlynn Bias chipped in 11 points, and Eleni Shea notched 10 points and seven rebounds. Maddie Kohler shared game-high honors with four assists.
The Belles (5-13, 3-6 MIAA) travel to in-state MIAA rival Trine on Saturday, February 1 for a 3:00 p.m. game against the Thunder.