Clock Runs Out on Comeback for Belles Against Camels

Box Score

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The Saint Mary's basketball team lost a close 63-61 contest against Connecticut College in the Land of Magic Classic on Sunday morning.

The Camels started the game off with a 9-0 run through the first five minutes of play for the early advantage. With Connecticut leading by eight points with just over eight minutes remaining in the half, the Belles went on a 12-1 run while taking 3:15 seconds to take a three-point lead. Saint Mary's scored on all six of their possessions during that run with Heather Pesigan, Eleni Shea, Timoney Moyer, and Shanlynn Bias all putting points on the scoreboard for the Belles.

Over the final four minutes of the opening period, the teams went back-and-forth with buckets as the Camels took a 29-28 lead into the break.

Saint Mary's out-scored Connecticut 14-5 over the first 7:29 of the second half to take their largest lead of the game at 42-34.

The Camels then turned the tables on the Belles with back-to-back three pointers to jump start a 14-1 run that saw Connecticut score on five consecutive possessions for a 48-43 advantage.

Krista Knapke drained a pair of free throws to tie the game at 49-49 with 7:12 remaining on the clock, but the Camels picked up a pair of layups and made six free throws in-a-row to hold a 59-51 lead with 4:45 left in the game.

Knapke, Bias, and Pesigan posted six straight points for the Belles to get Saint Mary's a point away from Connecticut with 2:32 on the clock, but Saint Mary's went 1-of-4 from the floor over the final two-and-a-half minutes and were unable to overtake the Camels in the neutral-site game.

Saint Mary's posted 12 offensive rebounds to Connecticut's nine, but the Camels held the overall 40-39 rebounding advantage when the final buzzer sounded. Connecticut also scored seven more points off of turnovers (21) than the Belles (14) in the contest.

Ariana Paul led Saint Mary's with 18 points and nine rebounds. Shanlynn Bias added 10 points and three assists. Eleni Shea posted 10 points and blocked three shots.

The Belles (3-8) return to conference play on Saturday, January 4 when they travel to Alma for a 3:00 p.m. contest against the Scots.

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