ADRIAN, Mich. - Saint Mary's used an 11-2 run over the span of 3:03 in the first quarter to take a lead over host Adrian, and the Belles never trailed en route to a 62-52 conference win on Saturday afternoon.
Devan Buda got the Belles on the scoreboard first with a three-pointer. The Bulldogs responded with back-to-back buckets, but Anne Goralczyk powered her way to a layup for a 5-4 lead. After Adrian took their second lead of the game, Nikki Murphy drew a charge and Goralczyk connected on a baseline jumper for a 7-6 advantage for Saint Mary's. Julia Schutz had a free throw to break a 7-7 deadlock then hit a layup and converted the and-one opportunity to put the Belles ahead 11-7. Claire Bartz then made it a 13-7 lead after she sliced through a pair of defenders for a layup. Goralczyk, Elle Deardorff, and Bella Dugas each tallied points for the Belles as Saint Mary's took an 18-12 lead into the start of the second quarter.
Morgan Flynn opened her scoring account in the game with a pair of free throws, and Bella Dugas hit a fastbreak layup off a pass from Nikki Murphy for a 22-16 lead. Adrian responded with a three-pointer on their next possession, but Julia Schutz countered with a three-pointer of her own to put the Belles ahead 25-19. Brigid Fuller made a turnaround jump shot for her first collegiate bucket to make it 27-19. The Belles then turned defense into offense after Schutz affected a shot attempt by Adrian, and Christina Shadid used an offensive rebound to connect on a baseline jumper for a 29-19 Saint Mary's lead as the Bulldogs called timeout. A Nikki Murphy steal yielded a Maddie Rzepka layup, and Murphy got on the scoring sheet with a layup of her own for a 35-26 advantage. The Bulldogs, however, closed out the period with five consecutive points to make it a 35-31 game at the break.
The host Bulldogs edged within three points at 36-33, but Bella Dugas made it a multi-possession lead with a driving layup to make it 38-33. Morgan Flynn then came up with a steal and hit a mid-range jumper for a seven-point advantage. The Belles capitalized on a turnover a short while later when Anne Goralczyk converted a three-point play to make it an eight-point game. Adrian made it a four-point game at 43-39 before Claire Bartz sunk a pair of free throws and Bella Dugas connected from beyond the arc to make it 48-39. A long two-pointer by Dugas extended the lead to 50-39 late in the quarter. The Bulldogs countered with a three-pointer, but Bartz buried a triple of her own to put the Belles ahead 53-42 going into the fourth quarter.
An extra pass yielded a good three-pointer by Morgan Flynn for the Belles' first points of the fourth period. Both teams hit a scoreless stretch with Saint Mary's leading 56-46 with under four minutes remaining in the period. The Bulldogs broke the scoring drought with a layup to make it a 56-48 game as Adrian called a timeout with just over three minutes to go. A hustle play on the Saint Mary's scoring end by Maddie Rzepka kept the next possession alive, and Claire Bartz hit a layup. The Bulldogs went down and scored a bucket of their own only to see Maddie Rzepka connect in the paint with a layup to give Saint Mary's a 60-50 lead. Two possessions later, Julia Schutz drove to the bucket and converted the layup attempt for a 62-50 Saint Mary's advantage with just over a minute to play. The Belles dialed up the defense another notch on the next Adrian possession and forced the Bulldogs into a turnover. Adrian cut the deficit to ten with a layup with ten seconds on the clock, but the Belles dribbled out the clock to capture their first conference win of the season.
The Bulldogs out-rebounded the Belles in the first quarter, but Saint Mary's made an adjustment at the break and had a 24-18 (+6) margin in boards over Adrian over the final 20 minutes of action. The Belles took advantage of 18 give-aways by the Bulldogs with a 16-4 (+8) scoring margin in points off of turnovers in the contest.
Bella Dugas led a Saint Mary's side which saw eleven different players score in the victory. Dugas tallied a game-high 14 points while adding six rebounds. Anne Goralczyk, Claire Bartz, and Julia Schutz each chipped in nine points while Morgan Flynn posted seven points in her first career start. Schutz and Maddie Rzepka shared team-high honors with seven rebounds. Rzepka collected three steals and a game-best four assists.
The Belles (2-6, 1-1 MIAA) have a brief break from conference play as they host neighboring Holy Cross College on Tuesday, December 7 at 6:00 p.m.