NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Saint Mary's basketball team pulled within two points in the fourth quarter but were unable to overtake visiting Adrian in a 79-67 final on Saturday afternoon.

 

Maddie Rzepka and Anne Goralczyk gave the Belles a 3-0 lead, and Goralczyk regained the lead for the Belles with a jump shot a short while later to make it a 5-3 score just over two minutes into the game. The Bulldogs countered with seven consecutive points for a 10-5 advantage with six minutes on the clock. Goralczyk kept Saint Mary's on pace with a pair of free throws. Mary Kate Gareau added a tough layup, and Claire Bartz connected on a shot in the lane as the Belles trailed 16-11 with 1:34 remaining in the opening period. A free throw and a layup by Adrian down the stretch of the quarter gave the visiting side a 19-11 lead through the first ten minutes of play.

 

Nikki Murphy put the Belles on the scoreboard first in the second stanza with a layup to cut the deficit to six points. Adrian countered with a 9-1 run over the next two-plus minutes to push their advantage to 28-14. Julia Schutz connected on a big three-pointer to generate some momentum, and Elle Deardorff added a triple of her own. The flurry of three-pointers continued for the Saint Mary's side with Schutz and Bella Dugas each adding a trey to make it a 35-26 score. Schutz converted a layup off of a Deardorff steal, and Dugas hit both ends of a trip to the free throw line as the Belles cut within five points at 35-30. Deardorff joined in with two free throws with favorable bounces off the rim, but a three-pointer by Adrian late in the quarter gave the Bulldogs a 40-32 halftime lead. Both teams hit at least 50 percent of their shots in the second quarter with the sides combining for a blistering 42 points in the period.

 

Bella Dugas, who just so happens to wear #35 for the Belles, scored the team's 35th point of the day with a three-pointer to open the second half. The Bulldogs regained the momentum quickly, however, with a 9-0 run for a 49-35 advantage. Saint Mary's fought right back with a run of their own. Goralczyk, Morgan Flynn, Deardorff, and Bartz combined for 11 points over the next two-plus minutes as the Belles edged within four points at 50-46. Adrian again pushed their lead back to double-digits by scoring nine of the next 11 points. A three-pointer by Julia Schutz on the last possession of the quarter for Saint Mary's began to push the momentum back to the home side yet again going into the final stanza.

 

With Adrian ahead 64-53 with 7:19 on the clock, the Belles made another comeback effort in front of a highly energetic crowd. Deardorff got things going with a pull up jumper just inside the free throw line. Nikki Murphy then connected on a three-pointer in front of the Saint Mary's faithful in the bleachers. Maddie Rzepka joined in on the scoring spurt with a fastbreak layup, and Claire Bartz put the Belles within two points on a layup after a Dugas steal to make it 64-62 with under five minutes to go. The Bulldogs got back in the scoring column, and the teams traded points back-and-forth. Deardorff, Schutz, and Rzepka each added to their scoring totals as the Belles trailed by five with under a minute to play. Down the stretch, however, Saint Mary's could not get the bounces to go their way and were unable to get the needed clutch shot to fall as the Bulldogs took the 79-67 final.

 

Saint Mary's held a 27-10 scoring advantage in points off of turnovers. Adrian used a 14-11 edge in offensive rebounds to out-score the Belles 21-11 on second-chance points.

 

Julia Schutz led a quartet of Saint Mary's basketball players in double-digit scoring with 13 points. Elle Deardorff tallied 12 points, and Bella Dugas and Anne Goralczyk each chipped in 10 points. Deardorff had a team-best three assists. Maddie Rzepka paced the Belles with seven rebounds and matched her career-high with four steals.

 

The Belles (4-15, 3-7 MIAA) are home on Wednesday, February 2 when they host Kalamazoo for a 7:00 p.m. conference contest.