NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Saint Mary's basketball team came up on the short end of an 83-43 final against a Trine side who is receiving votes in both the Women's Basketball Coaches Association and d3hoops.com Top 25 polls.

 

After the Thunder connected on a three-pointer to open the game, Elle Deardorff followed suit with a good three-pointer of her own to quickly knot the score. Trine rattled off the next eight points in a quick-tempoed contest. Julia Schutz broke up the scoring spurt with a good three-pointer for the Belles to make it an 11-6 score with 6:46 still to go in the opening quarter. The Thunder hit back-to-back threes of their own and connected on a pull up jumper a minute later for a 19-6 advantage. Schutz pulled down an offensive rebound and connected on the put-back attempt with four minutes to go for the Belles. Trine, however, put the next 12 points on the scoreboard as the shots just would not fall for Saint Mary's over that same span despite getting several good looks at the basket. Kate Restovich connected on a free throw with just over a second remaining on the clock as the Belles trailed 31-9 going into the second period.

 

The Belles opened up the second period with a defensive stop at one end and a good three-pointer by Annie Restovich at the other end to get into the scoring column first. Athena Samson added a second-chance bucket on the next Saint Mary's possession to make it a 31-14 game barely a minute into the quarter. The Thunder used a pair of second-chance buckets of their own over the next minute and a half of play to make it 35-14. Both sides hit a scoring drought until Trine used a 9-0 spurt in the span of 2:08 to gain a 44-14 lead. Samson hit a late bucket for Saint Mary's as Trine carried a 46-16 advantage into the halftime break.

 

Julia Schutz got the Belles on the scoreboard with a pair of free throws, and Lauren Gumma hit a pull up jumper in the third quarter. Avery Schiesser added a free throw, but the Belles were unable to put together a big scoring run to try to close the gap in the third. Schutz hit a tough jumper in the paint in the final 30 seconds of the quarter, but Trine held a 72-23 lead going into the fourth.

 

Kate Restovich drained a three-pointer, and Annie Restovich added a triple of her own for the Belles in the final stanza. The twin-tuition of the Restovich duo resulted in Kate picking up an assist on a deep three-pointer by Annie after a kick out pass from just inside the arc with more than six minutes to go while giving the Belles a burst of energy. Athena Samson got a tough shot to fall, and Alyssa Matuza added a pair of free throws as Saint Mary's continued to battle. Matuza then sunk a three-pointer right in front of her team's bench on the next possession for the Belles. Julia Schutz connected on a pair of free throws and hit a layup on a driving layup in the final minute, but the Belles came up on the short end of an 83-43 final.

 

Trine connected on 10 three-pointers in the game while Saint Mary's hit seven threes in the contest. The Belles made 8-of-11 free throws to the Thunder's 7-of-17 at the charity stripe. Trine held the edge in rebounds (49-31) and used a +14 edge in offensive boards to take 77 total shots in the game to the Belles' 48.

 

Julia Schutz led the Belles with 13 points and 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season while also blocking a pair of shots. Annie Restovich drained a trio of three-pointers for nine points. Athena Samson added six points and nine rebounds. Alyssa Matuza posted a career-best five points, and Kate Restovich tallied four points. Elle Deardorff, Lauren Gumma, and Avery Schiesser all tallied points in the contest for the Belles. 

 

The Belles (5-14, 2-8 MIAA) travel to Hope on Wednesday, January 31 for a 7:00 p.m. conference game.