NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Saint Mary's basketball team held off several comeback attempts by visiting Olivet for a 72-62 win at home in conference play on Wednesday night.

 

Saint Mary's jumped out to a 9-2 lead through three-plus minutes of action. Athena Samson hit an early layup, Maddie Rzepka drained a three-pointer and added a put-back layup, and Nikki Murphy added a tough layup for the seven-point lead. An Anne Goralczyk jumper in the paint kept the Belles ahead by multiple possessions at 11-5 with 4:08 on the clock, and the junior forward added another layup with over two minutes remaining for a 13-5 advantage with 1:23 left on the clock. The Comets, however, carried some momentum into the break with a buzzer-beating jumper to make it a 13-9 game. 

 

Athena Samson had the answer for the Belles to start the second period for a 15-9 lead, but Olivet used a 7-0 run over the next 2:48 of action to pull ahead by a 16-15 score. Samson converted a three-point play as the Belles regained an 18-16 lead. The Comets countered with a second-chance layup to knot the score. Julia Schutz hit a pair of free throws at the other end on the next possession for a 20-18 advantage for the Belles. A three-pointer and a second-chance layup by Olivet, however, gave the lead back to the Comets at 23-20 with 5:03 still to go in the second quarter. Schutz added two more free throws, Samson connected on a free throw, and a Schutz three-point play put the Belles up 26-23. Elle Deardorff added a three-pointer for a six-point lead with 2:26 on the clock. Samson added another bucket, and Schutz kept hitting her free throws as the Belles maintained a 33-26 lead before an Olivet layup late in the quarter made it a 33-28 score at the halftime break.

 

The sides traded buckets back-and-forth to open the third quarter as the Belles clung to a 37-34 lead. Julia Schutz hit a layup to start a 12-0 run for Saint Mary's. Maddie Rzepka hit a jumper in the lane, and Elle Deardorff drained back-to-back three-pointers for a 47-34 lead as the Comets called a timeout with 4:42 on the clock. Athena Samson added two free throws to cap off the run as the Belles pushed their lead to 15 at 49-34. The Comets, however, responded with a 10-0 run of their own over the next three minutes of action to make it a 49-44 score with 1:25 to go in the period. Deardorff again had the answer from long distance as the junior hit her fourth three-pointer of the game. A late free throw by Olivet cut the margin to seven at 52-45 heading into the fourth quarter. 

 

Samson again ignited the offense with a mid-range jump shot from the right side of the floor to start the quarter, and Elle Deardorff drained her fifth triple of the contest to quickly give the Belles a double-digit lead at 57-45. Saint Mary's was able to extend their lead to 14 on two occasions in the quarter, and three free throws late gave the Belles a 10-point lead at 69-59 with 1:09 to play. Olivet used a three-point play to make it a seven-point game with 45 seconds on the clock, but Nikki Murphy hit Julia Schutz on a backdoor cut for a layup as Schutz converted the three-point play with 34 seconds to go to secure the 72-62 win.

 

The Belles took advantage of their trips to the charity stripe as Saint Mary's connected on 18 free throws in the contest to Olivet's five. The Belles were +10 in rebounding margin against the Comets (50-40) and hit three more three-pointers than Olivet.

 

Elle Deardorff matched her career high point total for the second time this season with 19 points with a career-best six steals and three assists. Julia Schutz added 19 points and 10 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the year. Athena Samson had her eighth double-double on the year as well with 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor and a game-high 14 rebounds. Maddie Rzepka chipped in 11 points on the night. Nikki Murphy tallied six assists, six rebounds, two steals, and two points, and Anne Goralczyk posted four points for the Belles. 

 

The Belles (6-10, 3-4 MIAA) have a break from action this weekend and return to play on Wednesday, January 18 when they travel to Hope for a 6:00 p.m. contest.