For the second time in a little more than a month the Belles defeated the Thunder of Trine University Saturday. The 69-58 win moved Saint Mary's to 8-1 at the top of the MIAA Conference.
The win keeps Saint Mary's tied for first place in the conference with Hope also having one loss.
"In this league you can't overlook anyone," Belles coach Jen Henley said. "Records and standings never truly indicate the strength of a team."
The loss dropped Trine to 4-5 in conference play, which puts them in sixth place in the conference after Adrian defeated Olivet on Saturday to improve to 5-4.
With 7:47 left in the first half senior Katie Rashid hit a tie-breaking layup to put the Belles on top for good. Going into the locker room at the half the Belles maintained a 36-31 lead.
The Thunder fought throughout the second half but were never able to pull within a basket of the Belles.
Junior Anna Kammrath proved to be a big force down the stretch scoring 10 of her 13 points in the second half to put Trine away.
Freshman Patsy Mahoney also pulled her weight chipping in with 12 points.
Seniors Erin Newsom and Nicole Beier led all scorers with fifteen points each.
"I think we see all the conference teams as big rivals," Newsom said. "Some schools are seen as tougher teams to beat like Hope and Calvin, but we go into every game with the attitude that we need to play our best in order to win, regardless of the team we're put up against."
Saint Mary's opened its conference schedule with a win over Trine in December and since then have only lost to Albion in MIAA play.
While the Belles can't get their revenge against Albion until Valentine's Day, they will begin looking ahead to this week's games, that includes Calvin, and their arch rivals in the conference Hope College.
Hope is currently ranked eighth in the Div. III standings with a record of 12-1, their only loss coming to the Belles back on Jan. 3.
The Belles put their two-game winnings streak against Calvin on the line Wednesday night, followed by a showdown with Hope on Saturday.
