Belles Fall Short Against Comets

Box Score

• Gabby Diamond led the Belles with 13 points while pulling down six rebounds.
• Ally Steve added 12 points, and Kelsey Ronan posted 10 points and tied the team-best with seven rebounds.
• Erin Maloney tied her career high with eight assists while also pulling down seven rebounds.

OLIVET, Mich. - The Saint Mary's basketball team came up short in a 63-49 conference contest at Olivet on Wednesday evening.

After Olivet scored the first six points of the game, Gabby Diamond rattled off four consecutive points to make it a 64 game midway through the opening quarter. The Comets put four points on the scoreboard, but Kelsey Ronan sunk a pair of free throws before Diamond added the front end of a trip to the charity stripe to cut the deficit to three points at 10-7. Olivet tallied back-to-back layups for a 14-7 advantage. Ronan hit a pair of free throws with under a minute remaining to make it a 14-9 game at the end of one quarter.

Ally Steve opened the second period with a three-pointer, and Delaney Rohlman hit a three from the corner two minutes later to pull the Belles within a point at 16-15. Steve kept the long distance connection going with her second three in as many shots to put Saint Mary's ahead 18-16 with 7:31 on the clock. The two sides traded baskets back and forth until the Belles put together seven straight points to edge ahead 27-22 with under a minute remaining before the half. The Comets put a free throw on the scoreboard, but the Belles took a 27-23 lead into the locker room at the break.

The Comets made it a two-point game with a good jumper to open the third quarter. Erin Maloney hit the tail end of a trip to the free throw line, and Megan Will drained a three-pointer from the right wing to give Saint Mary's a 31-25 lead. The Comets pulled within a point less than a minute later. Gabby Diamond had an offensive board and a put-back to make it a 33-30 game with six minutes left in the period. Olivet, however, rattled off an 8-0 run over the next three-plus minutes to claim a 38-33 advantage. Undeterred, the Belles came storming right back with a jump shot by Ronan and a three-pointer in the closing seconds of the quarter to make it a two-point deficit of 40-38 heading into the final period.

Megan Will opened the fourth quarter with a good mid-range jumper to tie the game at 40-40. Olivet responded with two buckets, but Erin Maloney sunk a jump shot of her own to keep the Belles close. Less than a minute later, Gabby Diamond hit a jumper to make it a one-possession game at 47-44 with more than seven minutes remaining on the clock. Ally Steve added her fourth three-pointer of the game a minute later to pull Saint Mary's within two points at 49-47. A short while later, Steve picked up a steal at the top of the key and fed a leading pass to Diamond for the fastbreak bucket at the other end to knot the score at 49-49 with 5:13 remaining. Despite several good looks and second-chance opportunities down the stretch, the Belles were unable to get another shot to fall in the contest as the Comets took the 63-49 decision.

The Belles matched their season-high with seven made three-pointers in the contest while also edging the Comets in offensive boards (19-17). The Comets made 50 percent (14-of-28) of their shots over the second half of play while Saint Mary's connected on just 23.1 percent (9-of-39) during that span.

Gabby Diamond led the Belles with 13 points while pulling down six rebounds. Ally Steve added 12 points, and Kelsey Ronan posted 10 points and tied the team-best with seven rebounds. Erin Maloney tied her career high with eight assists while also pulling down seven rebounds.

The Belles (1-15, 0-8 MIAA) begin the second round of MIAA play on Saturday when they host Albion at 3:00 p.m.