After the their tough, lopsided loss to nationally-ranked rival Hope College last weekend, Saint Mary's found themselves on the other side of a blowout Wednesday night.
In their first game at home in more than two weeks, the Belles (12-8, 10-2) defeated conference opponent Olivet 86-54 in a game that was never close. After giving up its lead in the MIAA standings to Hope Saturday, Saint Mary's will most likely have to win the remainder of its conference games to have a chance at first place.
The Belles definitely started that process on the right foot. After jumping out to a 22-point lead at the half, Saint Mary's never let Olivet up for air as the Belles scored another 41 points in the second half to the Comets' 31.
The Belles got solid bench play from freshmen Kelley Murphy and Maggie Ronan, who had 14 and 10 points, respectively. The other two Belles to reach double digits were senior forward Erin Newsom, who had 13 points, and junior forward Anna Kammrath with 10. Both Newsom and Kammrath also contributed six rebounds apiece in the winning effort.
Despite the fact that Hope also won Wednesday, there are still four games left for each team in conference play before the MIAA tournament at the end of the month. If Saint Mary's wins its remaining games, all of which are against teams they've already played this season, there is a chance that they could end the regular season as conference champions and set themselves up in a favorable position for tournament time.