NAPERVILLE, Ill. - The Saint Mary's basketball team had a 58-47 setback in their season opener at North Central on Tuesday evening.

 

The Belles had trouble getting the ball to hit the bottom of the basket despite getting several good looks at the hoop early on against the Cardinals. The hosts built a 15-1 lead through the first 8:05 of play before Julia Schutz sunk a three-pointer with under a minute to go in the opening stanza. The Belles then capitalized on a turnover by North Central with a good layup by Anne Goralczyk in the final 10 seconds of the quarter to cut the deficit to single digits at 15-6.

 

Those two late buckets started what would be a 13-2 run for Saint Mary's as the Belles pulled ahead 24-17 midway through the second period. Lauren Gumma drained her first collegiate bucket - a three-pointer - on the first possession of the quarter. Schutz converted both ends of a trip to the free throw line, and Elle Deardorff connected on back-to-back three-pointers. Maddie Rzepka got in on the scoring with a jump shot, and Schutz and Deardorff capped off the run with a jumper and a three-pointer, respectively. Rzpeka chipped in three more free throws, and the Belles carried a 27-25 lead into the halftime break.

 

The Cardinals put six points on the scoreboard over the opening four minutes of the third quarter to gain a 31-27 edge while the Belles had several good chances just miss the mark. Schutz hit a pair of free throws on an extended possession by Saint Mary's less than a minute later to make it a two-point game. The sides then traded buckets back-and-forth with Anne Goralczyk collecting an offensive rebound and scoring on the put-back. North Central converted two free throws with over a minute remaining in the quarter, and neither side could get a late bucket as the game moved to the final period with the Cardinals holding a 35-31 lead.

 

Maddie Rzepka had an offensive rebound and follow-up layup to put the Belles within four points at 37-33 less than a minute into the fourth quarter, but the Cardinals used a seven-point spurt to gain a 44-33 advantage three minutes later. Elle Deardorff put four consecutive points on the scoreboard to edge within seven at 44-37 with 5:51 on the clock, but a three-pointer and a layup by the Cardinals extended the North Central lead back to double-digits at 49-37. Saint Mary's narrowed the deficit to ten at 57-47 late in the quarter but were unable to gain further ground in the 58-47 final.

 

The Cardinals held a 45-31 edge over the Belles in rebounds on the night and turned 18 offensive boards into 15 points while Saint Mary's converted 11 offensive rebounds into nine points. North Central had the 26-10 advantage in points on the paint in the game.

 

Elle Deardorff scored a game-high 19 points to pace the Belles while dishing out three assists. That 19-point effort by the sophomore marks the highest scoring total for a Saint Mary's basketball player in their collegiate debut in the last 20 years as the Belles did not compete in the 2020-21 season. Julia Schutz added 13 points on the night, and Maddie Rzepka chipped in eight points and a pair of steals. Anne Goralczyk posted four points and three rebounds, and Lauren Gumma tallied three points on the night. Bella Dugas had a team-best five rebounds.

 

The Belles (0-1) travel to Wisconsin on Friday to take part in the two-day St. Norbert College Nicolet National Bank Tip-Off Tournament. Saint Mary's squares off against Carroll (Wis.) on Friday at 5:00 p.m. CST.