Posted: Dec 29, 2021
BLUFFTON, Ohio - The Saint Mary's basketball team was unable to find an offensive rhythm in a 56-26 setback against Ohio Northern on day one of the McDonald's of Bluffton Holiday Tournament on Wednesday afternoon.
Morgan Flynn opened the scoring on the day with a three-pointer from the left side of the floor, and Maddie Rzepka powered her way to a pull up jumper in the lane to put the Belles ahead 5-1 just over two minutes into the contest. The Polar Bears, however, countered with a 21-2 run over the remainder of the opening stanza to take a commanding 22-7 lead through ten minutes of play.
Devan Buda fought through the lane to a driving layup midway through the second period, and Buda added a free throw a minute and a half later to make it a 24-10 score. Saint Mary's, however, could not catch any fortunate bounces off the rim as Ohio Northern carried a 32-10 lead into the halftime break.
Buda and Mary Kate Gareau found success at the charity stripe for the Belles in the third period, and Lauren Gumma connected on a jump shot late in the quarter as Saint Mary's continued to fight while making it a 39-22 game heading into the final stanza.
Nyah Porter dialed in a long-range two-pointer from the right corner of the court to push the score to 43-24. Jasmyne Townsend later connected on both ends of a trip to the free throw line, but the deficit was too great in favor of the Polar Bears as Ohio Northern took the 56-26 decision.
Saint Mary's limited Ohio Northern to a season-low matching 33.8 percent shooting effort from the floor (22-of-65), but the Belles were unable to capitalize as they posted an 8-of-48 (16.7 percent) shooting showing in the contest.
Devan Buda led the Belles with seven points on the day while Mary Kate Gareau, Anne Goralczyk, and Morgan Flynn each chipped in three points. Maddie Rzepka, Elle Deardorff, Nyah Porter, Lauren Gumma, and Jasmyne Townsend each posted two points.
The Belles (2-10) wrap up the McDonald's of Bluffton Holiday Tournament against host Bluffton on Thursday evening at 5:00 p.m.