Saint Mary's lost its second conference contest in as many games Saturday, falling 62-57 at Trine.
The Thunder (9-9, 2-4 MIAA) had never defeated the Belles (10-7, 5-4) as a member of the MIAA, which accepted Trine in 2004.
The game was back-and-forth early and knotted at 12-12 with just under 14 minutes left in the first half when Trine hit a 3-point shot to take the lead, a lead they would maintain at halftime by the count of 31-26.
Coming out of halftime, the Thunder went on a 9-2 run to take what would be their biggest lead of the game at 40-28. The Belles, however, were not about to quit easily and countered with a run of their own, tying the game at 46 with more than eight minutes to play. Sophomore guard Patsy Mahoney even gave Saint Mary's a two-point lead shortly afterward by converting two free throws, but Trine immediately regained the upper hand.
With just over two minutes to play, the Belles again went up by a point at 56-55. Defense dominated for the next minute and a half of play, but the Thunder's Kelly Costello was able to get open and make a 3-point shot, giving Trine a 58-56 lead with 22 seconds to go.
Sophomore forward Kelley Murphy made one free throw and cut the lead to one point with just 11 seconds left, but the Thunder hit all of their free throws at the end to seal the win.
Murphy led the Belles with 22 points and 10 rebounds and senior forward Anna Kammrath followed with 14 points. Junior guard Liz Wade's six steals moved her to third all-time in school history. The Belles, however, shot only 38.2 percent from the floor compared to Trine's 42.6 percent. The Thunder also spread around the scoring with three players in the double digits and a fourth with nine points.
Despite the loss, Saint Mary's was able to hold on to third place in the conference, but is now only one game ahead of four teams. It is three games behind second-place Calvin, whom the Belles host Wednesday night in an opportunity to gain ground in the conference.
