After losing to Hope a week and a half ago, the Belles knew the only way they would have a shot at the conference title would be if they won all of their remaining five games. After a scrappy, hard-fought win against Adrian last night at the Angela Athletic Complex, Saint Mary's is more than halfway there in terms of accomplishing that goal.
Saint Mary's (14-8, 12-2) pulled ahead early in the second half to defeat the visiting Bulldogs 77-71 after only being ahead 42-41 at halftime.
The game was a change of pace for the Belles, who have been on both sides of blowouts in three of their last four games, the most recent of which was a 66-39 win against Alma.
After leading by one at the half, Saint Mary's fell behind by five to Adrian until there were about 10 minutes left in the half. After a 9-0 rally, the Belles jumped ahead 65-59 and lead the rest of the way.
The win extended the school record for most MIAA conference wins in a season to 12 and the team's 14 wins overall are the most since 1993. S
enior forward Erin Newsom recorded her sixth double-double of the season, scoring 22 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Freshman guard Patsy Mahoney also contributed 22 points and freshman forward Kelley Murphy contributed 14 points to the winning effort.
While the Belles will still need help from Hope in order to win the MIAA regular season championship, they also need to make sure they don't slip up when they travel to Albion this Saturday. Earlier this season, Albion snapped the Belles' six-game conference win streak, so Saint Mary's will be looking to reverse fortune this time around as the team still has a shot at first place in the conference.
