ELMHURST, Ill. - The Saint Mary's basketball team closed out the final 1:33 of the game on a 7-0 run to capture a 71-70 win over host Elmhurst on Wednesday evening.

 

Anne Goralczyk opened the scoring for the Belles and added another bucket two minutes later to knot the score at 4-4. Maddie Rzepka then gave the Belles their first lead of the game on their next possession before Goralczyk hit a fastbreak layup for an 8-4 advantage. Rzepka tallied the next four points for Saint Mary's, and Caitlin Bonnesen sunk a tough layup for a 14-8 lead. Bella Dugas had a put-back layup a half-minute later, and Dugas and Devan Buda added points late in the quarter for a 20-14 Saint Mary's lead at the first quarter break.

 

Buda then drained a three-pointer as the Belles kept ahold of the lead in the second quarter. The host Bluejays used a three-point play to make it a four-point game, but Goralczyk and Elle Deardorff put the next six points on the scoreboard for a 29-19 lead with 6:00 on the clock. Elmhurst, however, countered with a 14-4 run over the next 3:39 of play to draw even at 33-33. Both sides saw their offenses encounter trouble getting shots to fall over the final stretch of the half, but Bella Dugas ensured the Belles took the halftime lead with a free throw and a layup for a 36-33 halftime score.

 

The Bluejays opened the third quarter with an 11-2 run to pull ahead 44-38 and extended their lead to nine at 50-41 with 4:02 to go in the period. Christina Shadid hit a three-pointer before Nikki Murphy added a three-pointer of her own to quickly cut the deficit to 50-47. Anne Goralczyk added a mid-range jumper late in the quarter to again make it a three-point game at 52-49, but Elmhurst used a pair of buckets in the final 30 seconds of the stanza to hold a 56-49 lead going into the final ten minutes.

 

Elmhurst extended their lead to ten at 61-51 with 6:56 on the clock. Claire Bartz hit a triple only, but the Bluejays responded with a layup and a three-pointer of their own to take a 12-point lead with 4:20 to play. The Belles continued to battle and build momentum as Goralczyk hit yet another mid-range jumper on the ensuing possession. Clare Bartz hit a reverse layup 22 seconds later, and Bartz added a long two-pointer on the next Saint Mary's possession to make it 66-60 with 2:59 remaining as the Bluejays called a timeout. Bella Dugas kept a possession alive after a steal by Bartz, and the senior converted an offensive board into a put-back bucket while also drawing a foul for the and-one opportunity. Dugas connected on the free throw, and the momentum continued to shift in favor of Saint Mary's in a 66-63 game with more than two minutes to go. Elmhurst used a pair of free throws and a bucket a short while later to go ahead 70-64 with 1:54 to play. Claire Bartz, however, continued to have the hot shooting hand for the Belles as the sophomore hit a huge three-pointer to make it a one-possession game. Goralczyk pulled down a rebound after a missed layup, and Dugas powered her way to a layup to make it 70-69. The Bluejays missed both ends of a trip to the charity stripe, and Nikki Murphy came away with the defensive rebound. After using a timeout to advance the ball to the front court, the Belles capitalized on the chance as Maddie Rzepka worked past her defender for a layup on the left block for the go-ahead bucket with nine seconds to go. Goralczyk then came up with a huge block on a potential game-winner by the Bluejays just outside of the lane as the Belles held on for the 71-70 win.

 

Saint Mary's connected on 60.0 percent (9-of-15) of their shots from the floor in the fourth quarter while Elmhurst hit just 38.5 percent (5-of-13) in the final period. The Belles were 30.4 percent on shots behind the arc as the Bluejays hit just three three-pointers and were 18.8 percent from distance. The Belles also turned the ball over five fewer times (11) than Elmhurst (16) in the contest and out-scored the Bluejays 15-9 on points off of those giveaways.

 

Anne Goralczyk led the Belles with 15 points and added five rebounds in the win. Bella Dugas posted 13 points and six rebounds. Maddie Rzepka recorded 12 points and a team-best eight rebounds with four assists and two steals. Claire Bartz was 4-of-4 from the floor and added a free throw for 11 points. Nikki Murphy tallied seven rebounds, five assists, three points, and a steal for the Belles. Elle Deardorff, Devan Buda, and Christina Shadid all tallied points in the win.

 

The Belles (1-3) travel to Defiance on Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. contest against the Yellow Jackets.