NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Saint Mary's basketball team came up short in a 77-44 final against Wheaton (Ill.) on Friday night.

 

Despite limiting the visiting Thunder to just eight points through the first six minutes of action, the Belles could not get a bounce on the offensive end to go their way during the opening period. Lauren Gumma got Saint Mary's on the scoreboard with a free throw, and Jasmyne Townsend converted a pair of chances at the charity stripe 30 seconds later. Those three points would be all the Belles were able to get on the scoreboard in the opening period as Wheaton held an 18-3 lead at the quarter break.

 

Elle Deardorff drained a three-pointer to help get Saint Mary's going in the second stanza, and Annie Restovich hit a triple of her own a minute later. Jasmyne Townsend made it a ten-point difference with a pull up jumper outside of the lane to make it 21-11 with more than six minutes remaining on the clock. After the Thunder extended their lead to 16, the Belles countered with six quick points. Mary Kate Gareau hit the put-back chance in the paint, Kate Restovich connected on a tough shot in the lane, and Nicole Connolly added a jumper in the paint of her own as the Thunder called a timeout at 27-17 with three minutes to play in the half. Despite Wheaton putting the final five points on the scoreboard in the period, the two sides played to an even 14-14 scoring spread in the second quarter.

 

The Thunder had a response to each bucket the Belles scored in the third quarter. Lauren Gumma hit a three at the top of the key, and Jasmyne Townsend found the bottom of the bucket on a driving layup late. Wheaton, however, used a flurry of points in the span of less than a minute late and added a bucket at the buzzer to build a 57-27 lead going into the fourth quarter.

 

The Belles continued to fight down the stretch. Annie Restovich and Kate Restovich each hit a three with the other collecting an assist to re-energize the Saint Mary's bench and crowd. Kate Restovich added a second three-pointer less than a minute later, but the Belles could not overcome the early deficit in the 77-44 final. 

 

Lauren Gumma and Kate Restovich led the Belles with eight points each. Gumma added two steals and a rebound, and Restovich had two rebounds, an assist, and a steal. Annie Restovich posted six points with three assists, a steal, and a rebound while Jasmyne Townsend tallied six points and three rebounds. Nicole Connolly and Athena Samson each had four points. Samson led all players in the game with 10 rebounds on the night.

 

The Belles (1-2) have a quick turnaround as they travel to North Central on Saturday for a 5:00 p.m. CST (6:00 p.m. EST) contest against the Cardinals.