NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Saint Mary's basketball team defense came up with big plays down the stretch and held Holy Cross scoreless over the final minute-plus of action as the Belles took a solid 78-75 home win over the Saints on Sunday.

 

The tone for the game was clear from the opening tip-off - it was going to be a quick, back-and-forth game for all 40 minutes of play. Elle Deardorff drained a three-pointer on the Belles' first possession and added a jumper a minute later. The Saints responded with back-to-back buckets before Kate Restovich sent home a three-pointer. Annie Restovich followed suit with a triple of her own, and Nicole Connolly sunk a pair of free throws to give the Belles a 13-9 advantage. The balanced scoring by Saint Mary's continued with a put-back bucket by Athena Samson midway through the quarter for a 15-12 advantage. After Holy Cross gained a lead, Kate Restovich hit a tough shot in the paint to give the lead back to the home side. A pair of free throws by Julia Schutz a minute-and-change later followed by a Lauren Gumma three-pointer gave Saint Mary's a 22-18 advantage. The Saints, however, closed out the quarter with four points to knot the game 22-22 going into the second period as both teams hit 50 percent of their shots in the first stanza.

 

Athena Samson gave the Belles back to Saint Mary's with a turnaround jumper early, and Annie Restovich sunk a three-pointer with under seven minutes on the clock to tie the game at 27-27. The Saints put together a 9-0 run over the next three minutes of action before Julia Schutz got the Belles back on the scoreboard with a free throw. A fastbreak bucket by Holy Cross, however, gave the Saints the largest lead of the contest at 38-28 with under three minutes to play in the quarter. The Belles stayed the course, locked in defensively, and closed out the quarter with seven unanswered points thanks to free throws by Schutz and Elle Deardorff and a three-pointer by Deardorff with 27 seconds on the clock to make it a 38-35 game at the half.

 

The Belles worked hard to get a pair of offensive boards on their first possession, and Saint Mary's made the chance count with a three-pointer by Annie Restovich to tie the game 38-38. Holy Cross put up four points, and Saint Mary's came right back with five points thanks to a Kate Restovich triple and a pair of free throws by Nicole Connolly. The lead again changed hands with the Saints gaining 46-43 and 48-45 advantages. Annie Restovich hit a wide-open Connolly with a pass on the baseline, and Connolly connected on the mid-range jumper to make it a one-point difference. Kate Restovich then put the Belles up 49-48 with a second-chance jumper. The back-and-forth scoring continued with a three-pointer from the corner by Julia Schutz, a fastbreak layup by Elle Deardorff, and a three-pointer before Deardorff for a 57-54 advantage for the home side. The Saints hit a pair of late buckets, but the Belles pushed the tempo with ten seconds left. Deardorff sliced through the full-court press and found a wide open Nyah Porter on the block as Porter put away the close-range layup to give Saint Mary's a 59-58 lead going into the fourth quarter.

 

Both teams continued to fight for and take the lead over the opening moments of the fourth period with Deardorff, Athena Samson, and Kate Restovich all notching points. Julia Schutz broke up a scoreless stretch with a good three-pointer to give Saint Mary's their largest lead at 69-64. Annie Restovich added a three-pointer of her own a minute later to make it 72-68 with 4:35 to play. Back-to-back buckets by Holy Cross gave the lead back to the Saints at 73-72. Schutz had the response again as she put away a layup on the fastbreak for a 74-73 lead for the Belles with under three minutes to play. The Saints countered with a driving layup of their own with just under two minutes on the clock for a 75-74 advantage. Athena Samson cleaned up the offensive glass with a put-back jumper on the Belles' next possession for a 76-75 lead. Nicole Connolly had a pair of big defensive rebounds to keep the Saints scoreless on their next two possessions, and Athena Samson put away a fastbreak layup the other way for a 78-75 lead with 21 seconds to play. Julia Schutz added a big block on a layup by the Saints with 15 seconds remaining, and Elle Deardorff broke up a pass a few moments later to disrupt the Holy Cross offense. Schutz then corralled a loose rebound after a missed three-pointer by the Saints to preserve the three-point win at home.

 

Saint Mary's hit 50.0 percent of their shots over the second half of play while the Saints made just 36.8 percent of their attempts from the floor in the third and fourth quarters combined. The game featured 24 lead changes and 12 ties in the fast-paced back-and-forth battle. The Belles outscored the Saints 12-5 on second-chance points while both teams connected on 12 free throw attempts in the contest. Saint Mary's connected on 12 three-pointers for a 41.4 percent shooting effort behind the arc while tying the program record for made three-pointers in a contest.

 

The Belles had five players score double-digit points in a balanced offensive effort on the day. Elle Deardorff led the way with 17 points while Athena Samson and Julia Schutz each poured in 13. Kate Restovich and Annie Restovich each tallied 12 points in the win. Nicole Connolly had six points, Lauren Gumma added three, and Nyah Porter had two points. The Restovich duo each posted five assists and two steals, and Deardorff added four assists with a career-high eight rebounds. Samson collected her fourth double-double of the season with a game-high 12 rebounds while tallying three assists. Connolly chipped in three assists, and Schutz pulled down seven rebounds.

 

The Belles (2-7) are on the road on Tuesday, December 19 when they take on Illinois Tech at 6:00 p.m. EST (5:00 p.m. CST).