NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Saint Mary's basketball team showed a lot of grit in a 90-66 setback at home against No. 22/RV (d3hoops.com/WBCA) Calvin on Saturday afternoon in front of an energetic crowd.

 

It was a back-and-forth battle early in Angela Athletic & Wellness Complex as the home side got balanced scoring output throughout the period. Elle Deardorff hit a jumper for a 2-0 lead and added a three-pointer a minute and a half later for a 5-2 Saint Mary's advantage. Calvin pulled ahead 7-5 before Athena Samson powered her way to a layup to knot the score at 7-7 four minutes into the contest. Calvin countered with a bucket on their next possession, and Nikki Murphy tied it right up again with a pair of free throws at 9-9. Saint Mary's continued to find an answer after Julia Schutz hit a layup while being fouled and converted the three-point play to put the Belles up 12-11 with 4:19 on the clock. The Knights had a second-chance bucket on their next possession, but this time Jasmyne Townsend found the bottom of the basket with a layup to push the home squad up 14-13. Calvin used back-to-back baskets as the lead traded hands yet again with a 17-14 lead for the Knights. Anne Goralczyk added a layup to put the Belles within a point at 17-16 with 2:13 remaining. The Knights, however, closed out the quarter with seven consecutive points for a 24-16 lead at the break.

 

Athena Samson opened the second quarter with a mid-range jump shot to make it a six-point lead. With Calvin up ten a short while later, another push by the Belles - bolstered by a large group of alumnae from the basketball program - cut the deficit to four. Maddie Rzepka connected on a jumper before hitting a fastbreak layup in transition. An Elle Deardorff three-pointer made it 33-28 with 5:40 on the clock. The Knights used a layup to go up by seven, but Deardorff dialed in another triple to force Calvin into a timeout with the Belles well within striking distance at 35-31. The Knights put their lead back to eight a minute later, but a fastbreak layup by Jasmyne Townsend and a layup by Anne Goralczyk made it a four-point game at 40-36 with under two minutes to go in the period. The Knights again closed out the quarter with a push as five unanswered points gave the visiting side a 45-36 lead at intermission.

 

Calvin gained a double-digit lead in the opening minutes of the third quarter. Julia Schutz converted another three-point play to make it an eight point game at 47-39, and Maddie Rzepka hit a step-through shot in the lane to cut the deficit to eight again at 49-41. The Knights used a game-changing 12-0 run over the span of 3:26 to balloon their lead to 61-41 with under four minutes to go in the quarter. Mary Kate Gareau got the Belles back into the scoring column with a free throw, and Nikki Murphy banked in a jumper in transition to make it 61-44, but the Knights carried a 67-47 lead going into the final quarter of play.

 

The two teams traded buckets throughout much of the final stanza, but that was not enough for the Belles to mount a comeback against the Knights. Jasmyne Townsend, Maddie Rzepka, Julia Schutz, Anne Goralczyk, and Elle Deardorff all registered points in the fourth quarter, and Saint Mary's tallied 19 points in the final ten minutes of action. The Knights, however, had 23 points over that span to prevent the Belles from making a run in the 90-66 final.

 

The Belles held slight edges in made three-pointers (5-3), fast break points (10-8), and free throws made (13-11), but the Knights were too strong in the paint (60-22) to take the decision. Calvin hit 48.7 percent (38-of-78) of their shots in the contest while Saint Mary's connected on 33.8 percent (24-of-71) of their total attempts in the game.

 

Julia Schutz notched her ninth double-double of the season with 13 points and a team-best 13 rebounds. The sophomore tallied three blocked shots and a pair of assists with a steal in the contest. Maddie Rzepka added 14 points, four rebounds, and two assists. Elle Deardorff chipped in 13 points, and Jasmyne Townsend had eight points, three rebounds, and two assists. Anne Goralczyk put up eight points with two rebounds. Athena Samson led the Belles with four assists and added five points. Nikki Murphy pulled down seven rebounds to match her season-high while notching two steals and three assists with four points. 

 

The Belles (6-12, 3-6 MIAA) are set to host Alma on Wednesday, January 35 at 7:00 p.m.