After a tough start offensively for the Belles, Athena Samson cleaned up an offensive rebound with a layup to get Saint Mary's on the scoreboard three minutes into the contest to make it a 3-2 game. Nicole Connolly hit a mid-range baseline jumper less than a minute later, and Julia Schutz went coast-to-coast with a steal and layup to give the Belles their first lead at 6-5 with under six minutes on the clock. Kalamazoo regained the lead with a pair of free throws, but Jasmyne Townsend got a good bounce off the rim as the Belles went up 8-7. The Hornets countered with three consecutive buckets plus the and-one opportunity for a 14-8 advantage with under three minutes to go in the opening period. The Belles broke back into the scoring column with a put-back jumper in the lane by Anne Goralczyk to edge within 14-10. Townsend connected on a shot at the free throw line to make it a 16-12 game with under a minute to play as the Belles trailed by four at the end of the first quarter.
The Hornets opened the second quarter with the first four points as the Belles could not buy a bucket. After a timeout by Saint Mary's, Julia Schutz powered her way to a layup on the left side of the lane for a much-needed basket to help start what would be a 10-0 run. Mary Kate Gareau sunk a deep two-pointer moments later to pull the Belles within 20-16, and Gareau added another baseline jumper to make it a two-point game at 20-18. The junior forward pulled down a big defensive rebound, and Julia Schutz scored on the next possession to knot the game at 20-20. Maddie Rzepka then hit a lean-in layup in transition to snag the lead for Saint Mary's. Kalamazoo broke up the scoring run with a layup to tie the game at 22-22 with 2:54 on the clock. Julia Schutz drained a three-pointer off of a kick-out pass from Nikki Murphy to regain the lead for the Belles at 25-22 with two minutes remaining. Jasmyne Townsend converted both free throw opportunities with the Belles in the bonus late in the quarter, and Saint Mary's took a 27-24 lead into the halftime break.
The Belles forced the Hornets into a shot clock violation to open the third quarter, and Athena Samson hit a spinning jumper in the lane at the other end for a 29-24 lead. Julia Schutz hit a layup after cutting down the edge of the lane for a 31-26 lead, and Jasmyne Townsend sliced through the defense for a layup of her own to grow the advantage to 33-27 as Kalamazoo called a timeout. Another defensive stop by Saint Mary's turned into points the other way with a second-chance three-pointer by Townsend. A layup in transition for Julia Schutz followed by the and-one free throw ballooned the lead to double-digits at 39-27 for a 12-3 run to open the quarter. Maddie Rzepka ended a six-point spurt by the Hornets with a runner in the lane. Kalamazoo responded with a jumper in the paint, but Jasmyne Townsend connected on a baseline jump shot for a 43-35 Saint Mary's lead with three minutes to go in the period. The Hornets, however, closed out the quarter with five unanswered points to make it a 43-40 score heading into the fourth period.
Kalamazoo hit the first basket of the fourth to make it a 43-42 score and scored quickly in transition to snag a 44-43 lead just over a minute into the quarter. Julia Schutz drew a pair of free throws and made them both to regain the lead for Saint Mary's at 45-44. Kalamazoo used a layup for a 46-45 advantage, but Athena Samson had the answer at the other end with a layup for a 47-46 lead for the Belles. The Hornets tallied a pair of free throws and a three-pointer to go up 51-47 with just over five minutes remaining on the clock. The Belles came out of a timeout and executed their offense with a layup by Julia Schutz to make it a two-point game. The defense locked down again to force a shot clock violation by the Hornets. Maddie Rzepka used a strong step-through on a second-chance opportunity on the next offensive set, and the Belles knotted the game at 51-51 with under four minutes to go on the clock. An offensive foul against the Hornets led to a three-pointer by Rzepka in front of the Belles' bench to give Saint Mary's a 54-51 lead. Julia Schutz drew a foul and hit both free throws to extend the Belles' lead to 56-51 with 2:34 on the clock. After the Hornets got a free throw, Maddie Rzepka sunk two free throws for a six-point lead at 58-52. Saint Mary's got a defensive stop but were unable to extend their lead on their next possession. The defense locked down again and got the rebound. Nikki Murphy was sent to the charity stripe and converted both chances to extend the lead to 60-52 with 33 seconds. Murphy added one more free throw down the stretch, and the Belles came away with the 61-52 victory on the road after closing the game on a 12-1 run.
Saint Mary's hit 12-of-13 (92.3 percent) of their free throws in the contest while Kalamazoo connected on 13-of-22 (59.1 percent) of their chances at the charity stripe. The Belles held a 44-43 advantage in rebounds with an 11-9 edge in second-chance points. The Hornets had a 17-5 scoring margin in points off of turnovers while both teams scored 28 points in the paint in the contest.
Julia Schutz led Saint Mary's with 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor and a 5-of-5 free throw effort. The sophomore added eight rebounds, an assist, and a steal. Jasmyne Townsend posted 13 points, a steal, and an assist. Maddie Rzepka added 11 points and two rebounds with a blocked shot. Athena Samson scored six points and had a team-best nine rebounds. Anne Goralczyk pulled down eight rebounds with two points. Mary Kate Gareau chipped in four points and had five rebounds. Nikki Murphy tallied three points and three assists, and Nicole Connolly notched two points.
The Belles (7-14, 4-8 MIAA) return home to host Hope on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. The game will also be the team's Mental Health Awareness Game.