It's typically hard to catch up when you fall behind, but Saint Mary's managed to put up a valiant fight after a sluggish start against conference foe Albion Thursday night.
In the end, the slow start was too much for the Belles to overcome, and they fell 61-56.
It was the slow start that hurt the Belles (10-6, 5-3 MIAA) as they fell behind early on in the game.
Unlike the Belles, Albion (7-9, 3-5 MIAA) came out hot in the first half, building a 14-point cushion leading into halftime.
However, Saint Mary's was not going to be down for the count.
In the second half, the Belles began to find the basket. They came all the way back, erasing the deficit.
Offense was an issue in the first half, resulting in a 25.9 percent shooting percentage however, during the second half, Saint Mary's shot 37.1 percent to close out the game. This hot shooting allowed the Belles to slowly erase the lead that they were chasing and even managed to tie the game at 51-51. That was as close as the Belles could get to the Britons as they held on to a lead that nearly slipped from them.
Saint Mary's outscored the Britons 37-28 in the second half.
Sophomore Kelley Murphy and senior Anna Kammrath scored in double figures for the Belles. Murphy led Saint Mary's with 17 points and Kammrath added 14 in the game.
This did not prove to be enough to keep pace with the Britons who came ready to play.
Junior Melissa Shaw led all scorers for the night with 19 points. She also was a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line.
Saint Mary's next plays on Saturday against conference rival Trine at 1 p.m.
