Posted: Nov 30, 2022
ALBION, Mich. - The Saint Mary's basketball team came up short in an 88-44 final at Albion in both teams' conference opener on Wednesday night.
Julia Schutz got the Belles going with a driving layup on the first possession of the game for Saint Mary's. Albion put the next six points on the scoreboard before Maddie Rzepka connected on a mid-range jumper to make it a 6-4 score early. The Brits, however, countered with six-consecutive points for a 12-4 advantage. Rzepka used a step-through move to again put the Belles on the scoreboard, a dish by Schutz to Anne Goralczyk in transition cut the deficit, and a pair of free throws by Schutz cut the deficit to 20-10 with two minutes to play in the period. Points by Schutz, Jasmyne Townsend, and Maddie Rzepka down the stretch made it a seven-point difference at 22-15, but the Brits used a late bucket of their own to hold a 24-15 lead at the quarter break.
Nicole Connolly used a second-chance opportunity to net a bucket two minutes into the second quarter, and an effective press-break by the Belles gave Athena Samson an easy layup three-plus minutes into the period. Albion, however, used second-chance opportunities of their own to push their lead to 33-19 with six minutes remaining on the clock. Both teams hit a stretch where buckets would not fall, but a backdoor cut by Lauren Gumma yielded a wide-open layup to push the score to 34-21 with 3:53 remaining. An offensive rebound and putback by Gumma a minute later edged the Belles within 34-23 with under three minutes to go. Albion, however, closed out the final two-plus minutes of play with six unanswered points as the shots just would not fall for Saint Mary's as Albion held a 40-23 lead at the half.
Over the opening 20 minutes of play, the Belles were limited to 10-of-35 shooting (28.6 percent) from the floor while the Brits connected on 16-of-40 (40.0 percent) of their attempts.
An Elle Deardorff three-pointer and layup followed by a Maddie Rzepka layup cut the deficit to 13 at 47-34 four-plus minutes into the third quarter. Albion countered with a corner three-pointer on their next possession and added a pair of layups to make it a 54-34 game as the Belles called a timeout. The Brits, however, extended their lead by out-scoring Saint Mary's 11-3 over the final four minutes of the quarter for a 65-37 advantage.
Neither side got on the scoreboard until 2:30 into the fourth quarter when Maddie Rzepka sliced her way to a layup. Albion used a layup on their next possession to keep their distance before again extending their lead with a scoring spurt midway through the fourth. The Belles were unable to edge any closer down the stretch in the 88-44 final.
Saint Mary's was held to 18-of-69 shooting (26.1 percent) on the night while Albion shot 48.7 percent on 38-of-78 shooting from the floor.
Julia Schutz led the Belles with 13 points while adding five rebounds and three assists. Maddie Rzepka added 10 points, and Elle Deardorff posted five points. Athena Samson collected a team-high 10 rebounds. Nicole Connolly and Lauren Gumma each tallied four points for the Belles.
Julia Schutz got the Belles going with a driving layup on the first possession of the game for Saint Mary's. Albion put the next six points on the scoreboard before Maddie Rzepka connected on a mid-range jumper to make it a 6-4 score early. The Brits, however, countered with six-consecutive points for a 12-4 advantage. Rzepka used a step-through move to again put the Belles on the scoreboard, a dish by Schutz to Anne Goralczyk in transition cut the deficit, and a pair of free throws by Schutz cut the deficit to 20-10 with two minutes to play in the period. Points by Schutz, Jasmyne Townsend, and Maddie Rzepka down the stretch made it a seven-point difference at 22-15, but the Brits used a late bucket of their own to hold a 24-15 lead at the quarter break.
Nicole Connolly used a second-chance opportunity to net a bucket two minutes into the second quarter, and an effective press-break by the Belles gave Athena Samson an easy layup three-plus minutes into the period. Albion, however, used second-chance opportunities of their own to push their lead to 33-19 with six minutes remaining on the clock. Both teams hit a stretch where buckets would not fall, but a backdoor cut by Lauren Gumma yielded a wide-open layup to push the score to 34-21 with 3:53 remaining. An offensive rebound and putback by Gumma a minute later edged the Belles within 34-23 with under three minutes to go. Albion, however, closed out the final two-plus minutes of play with six unanswered points as the shots just would not fall for Saint Mary's as Albion held a 40-23 lead at the half.
Over the opening 20 minutes of play, the Belles were limited to 10-of-35 shooting (28.6 percent) from the floor while the Brits connected on 16-of-40 (40.0 percent) of their attempts.
An Elle Deardorff three-pointer and layup followed by a Maddie Rzepka layup cut the deficit to 13 at 47-34 four-plus minutes into the third quarter. Albion countered with a corner three-pointer on their next possession and added a pair of layups to make it a 54-34 game as the Belles called a timeout. The Brits, however, extended their lead by out-scoring Saint Mary's 11-3 over the final four minutes of the quarter for a 65-37 advantage.
Neither side got on the scoreboard until 2:30 into the fourth quarter when Maddie Rzepka sliced her way to a layup. Albion used a layup on their next possession to keep their distance before again extending their lead with a scoring spurt midway through the fourth. The Belles were unable to edge any closer down the stretch in the 88-44 final.
Saint Mary's was held to 18-of-69 shooting (26.1 percent) on the night while Albion shot 48.7 percent on 38-of-78 shooting from the floor.
Julia Schutz led the Belles with 13 points while adding five rebounds and three assists. Maddie Rzepka added 10 points, and Elle Deardorff posted five points. Athena Samson collected a team-high 10 rebounds. Nicole Connolly and Lauren Gumma each tallied four points for the Belles.
The Belles (3-4, 0-1 MIAA) are back at home on Saturday when they host Adrian for a conference game starting at 3:00 p.m.