BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Saint Mary's basketball team came up short in a 66-49 final against Bluffton on day two of the McDonald's of Bluffton Holiday Tournament.
Maddie Rzepka finished an up-and-under move for the first bucket for the Belles on the day to tie the game at two apiece. Bluffton tallied the next six points of the contest before Devan Buda drew a foul on a move to the bucket and connected on a free throw. The Beavers pushed their lead to 10-3 on their next possession as the Belles called a timeout. Both sides had trouble getting shots to fall over the next stretch of play until Bluffton hit back-to-back baskets. Devan Buda responded with a good runner in the lane to make it 14-5 with under four minutes to go in the first quarter. A Caitlin Bonnesen free throw with 1:51 on the clock pushed the score to 16-6, and Bonnesen connected on both ends of a trip to the free throw line on the next possession as the score moved to 19-8. The Beavers, however, carried a 21-8 lead into the start of the second period.
Anne Goralczyk sunk a pair of free throws to open the second-quarter scoring. The Beavers scored on consecutive possessions before Nyah Porter drained a jumper to make it a 28-12 game with more than seven minutes left on the clock. Maddie Rzepka drained a three-pointer, and Elle Deardorff got into the scoring column with a pair of free throws as the Belles trailed 35-17 with four minutes to go in the half. Alexandria Swift added a free throw of her own, and Anne Goralczyk connected on a jumper in the lane. Goralczyk added another jump shot from the top of the key to make it a 39-22 game late in the quarter. Elle Deardorff then hit a three-pointer before sinking a layup in transition as a late push by the Belles pulled Saint Mary's within 39-27 at the half as Saint Mary's out-scored Bluffton 19-18 in the second period.
The Beavers posted the first five points of the quarter, but Maddie Rzepka sliced through the lane and hit a layup for a 44-29 score. Eight-consecutive points by Bluffton pushed the Beavers' lead to 52-29 as the Belles called timeout. Rzepka got Saint Mary's back in business with another three-pointer and added a long two-point jumper to make it 52-34. The host Beavers closed out the quarter on a 7-0 run with the Belles getting many good looks at the basket but not catching any fortunate bounces.
Maddie Rzepka converted both ends of a trip to the free throw line, but missed opportunities for the Belles hindered a comeback chance in the fourth quarter. Saint Mary's continued to battle, and Alexandria Swift powered her way to a layup and converted the and-one chance to push the score to 63-39 with five-and-a-half minutes to play. Swift then quickly added to her scoring tally late in the game with back-to-back steals and uncontested layups to edge the Belles within 64-43. Mary Kate Gareau tallied a pair of free throws, Lauren Gumma finished a layup on the left side of the lane, and Christina Shadid hit a pull-up jumper as the Belles cut the deficit to 17 at 66-49 with just over a minute remaining. The Beavers, however, ran out the clock down the stretch to take the 66-49 final. Saint Mary's out-scored the host Beavers 15-7 over the final quarter.
Saint Mary's made 82.4 percent (14-of-17) of their free throws in the contest to Bluffton's 11-of-20 (55.0 percent) effort at the charity stripe. The Beavers shot 36.9 percent (24-of-65) from the floor while the Belles hit 16-of-61 (26.2 percent) of their shots in the contest.
Maddie Rzepka led the Belles with a season-high 14 points on a 50.0 percent shooting effort from the floor. Alexandria Swift added career-highs of eight points and four steals. Elle Deardorff chipped in seven points, and Anne Goralczyk posted six points. Goralczyk led the team with six rebounds while Nyah Porter pulled down five boards.
The Belles (2-11) resume conference play on Wednesday, January 5 when they travel to Kalamazoo for a 7:00 p.m. contest.