HOLLAND, Mich. - The Saint Mary's basketball team had a tough time getting shots to fall in a 121-51 setback at No. 8/9 (WBCA/d3hoops.com) Hope on Wednesday evening.
After the Flying Dutch posted the opening basket of the game, Elle Deardorff drained a three-pointer to knot the score. Maddie Rzepka hit a put-back bucket in the paint on the next possession for a 5-3 lead for the Belles early. Hope countered with three-consecutive buckets for a 10-5 advantage. Deardorff had the response for the Belles with a contested three-pointer at the top of the key to make it 10-8 with 6:38 on the clock. The score remained unchanged until the Flying Dutch used a layup midway through the quarter to gain a 12-8 lead. Hope extended their lead to 16-8 with a pair of baskets in transition, and a three-pointer made it a 19-8 score with under four minutes to go in the opening stanza. Jasmyne Townsend get the Belles back on the scoreboard with a layup and added a pair of free throws a short while later, but the Flying Dutch held a 33-12 lead after the first quarter of play as Hope hit 73.7 percent of their shots in the opening period to the Belles' 30.8 percent.
After an early free throw by Hope, neither team could get a shot from the floor to fall until the 6:55 mark when the Flying Dutch extended their lead with a three-pointer. A pair of hustle plays by the Belles kept an offensive possession alive, and Athena Samson hit a layup to get Saint Mary's on the scoreboard at 37-14 with 6:32 remaining in the quarter. The Flying Dutch, however, countered with quick back-to-back buckets for a 43-14 lead. Lauren Gumma broke up a scoreless stretch as the sophomore used a strong ball fake to earn an open layup with 2:29 on the clock. Jasmyne Townsend connected on a baseline pull-up jumper in the final minute of the quarter, but the Flying Dutch carried a 56-18 lead going into the halftime break.
Despite working for open looks on the offensive end, the shots just would not fall for the Belles while the host Flying Dutch continued to have success getting their attempts to fall from the floor. An offensive rebound by Nyah Porter led to a swing pass to Jasmyne Townsend, and Townsend bounced in a shot from the top of the key to get Saint Mary's on the scoreboard with 6:02 on the clock. Athena Samson added to her point total with under five minutes left in the period, and Mary Kate Gareau broke into the scoring column late. The Belles could not string together a scoring run, however, as Hope built a 94-25 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Nyah Porter powered her way to a layup early in the fourth quarter, Lauren Gumma hit a gritty layup of her own, and Alyssa Matuza threaded the needle with a leading pass to Mary Kate Gareau for a layup all in the opening two-and-a-half minutes of the final stanza. Nicole Connolly broke through into the points column before Matuza drew a foul on a reverse layup chance on the next possession. The freshman connected on both free throws as the Belles continued to play hard down the stretch. Jasmyne Townsend, Lauren Gumma, and Nyah Porter all added to their point totals, and Christina Shadid hit a three pointer and a pair of free throws as the two sides traded points throughout much of the fourth quarter.
Hope made 63.6 percent of their shots and 54.5 percent of their three-pointers in the contest. Saint Mary's connected on 29.5 percent of total shots and 26.3 of their three-pointers.
Jasmyne Townsend led the Belles with 10 points. Nyah Porter hit 3-of-3 shots with a three-pointer to match her career-best output with seven points, and Lauren Gumma chipped in seven points of her own. Elle Deardorff, Mary Kate Gareau, and Christina Shadid had six points apiece with Gareau matching her career-high point total. Athena Samson and Nicole Connolly shared the team-best mark for rebounds with five boards each.
The Belles (6-11, 3-5 MIAA) are back at home on Saturday when they host Calvin for a conference game starting at 3:00 p.m.