NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Saint Mary's basketball team saw their four-game conference winning streak come to an end in an 84-47 setback against No. 11 (WBCA Top 25 Coaches Poll) Trine on Saturday afternoon.

 

Erin Maloney put the Belles on the scoreboard with a back-door layup, and Megan Saunders drained a three-pointer to knot the game at 5-5 with under eight minutes still on the clock. A minute and a half later, it was Giavanna Paradiso's turn to light up the scoreboard with a layup as the Belles stayed close at 10-7 with 6:12 remaining in the first stanza. Trine almost could not miss from any spot on the floor as the Thunder used a 10-0 run for a 20-7 lead. Paradiso hit a free throw after a strong drive to the dish resulted in a foul call, and the sophomore added a layup a short while later a minute and a half later as the score then stood at 26-10 in favor of Trine. A late three-pointer gave the Thunder a 29-10 lead through one quarter of play. Both teams hit over 65 percent of their shots from the floor in the first period, but Trine's 78.6 percent (11-of-14) translated to that 19-point advantage over Saint Mary's (66.7 percent, 4-of-6) through the first ten minutes.

 

The Belles came out of the first break with a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to 13 points at 29-16. Giavanna Paradiso had a layup, Erin Maloney swiped a steal and converted the layup in transition, and Paradiso added another shot in the paint as the Thunder called a timeout. Trine then countered with a 7-0 spurt of their own, including their sixth made three-pointer on as many attempts, to establish a 36-16 edge. Megan Saunders made a few moves to work her way to a layup a minute later, but Trine closed out the half with a 9-0 run for a 45-18 lead at the midway point in the contest.

 

The third and fourth quarters each saw the scoring margin tighten as the Thunder outscored the Belles by just a 39-29 margin over the final 20 minutes of action. Saint Mary's, however, was unable to cut the deficit to fewer than 27 points during the second half of play as Trine claimed the 84-47 decision.

 

The Thunder, who are tied for the eighth-highest field goal percentage in Division III women's basketball, ended the game with a 50.8 percent shooting effort from the floor. The Belles connected on 36.7 percent of their attempts in the contest. Trine held a 37-24 advantage in rebounds, and the Thunder were +18 (31-13) on points off of turnovers at the final buzzer.

 

Giavanna Paradiso led all players with 24 points. Megan Saunders added nine points, a team-high five rebounds, two blocked shots, and a steal. Erin Maloney chipped in seven points for the Belles. Carin Kaminski posted a career-best and game-high four assists.