Saint Mary’s fell to conference opponent Trine, 70-58, at Angela Athletic Facility on Wednesday night.
The Thunder (12-7, 6-4 MIAA) got off to a quick start in the first half, scoring the first 12 points of the game and cruising to an early 27-8 lead. The Belles (3-16, 1-9) answered with an 8-4 run with baskets by junior guard Sarah Macius and sophomore forward Kelsey Ronan to make the score 31-16 with just over six minutes left in the first half. The Thunder responded with a 12-7 run to close out the half and go into the locker room with a 43-23 halftime lead.
“We did not get off to a great defensive start on Wednesday,” Saint Mary’s coach Jennifer Henley said. “We had troubles matching up in transition, and Trine shot the lights out. We adjusted some things at halftime and played a much better second half.”
The Belles cooled the Trine offense in the second half, allowing only 27 points. Belles' senior guard Ariana Paul, junior forward Eleni Shea and junior guard Sarah Macius combined to score the last 12 points of the game, but it was not enough in the end and the Belles lost by 12 points.
Three Saint Mary's players were tied for most points on the team in the contest. Sophomore forward Kelsey Ronan scored 11 points and added four rebounds, Shea had 11 points to go along with five rebounds and one steal and Paul netted 11 points, pulled down nine rebounds and had five steals.
Saint Mary’s shot 34.9 percent from the field and made 65 percent of its free throws. Trine shot a blistering 6-for-7 from beyond the three point line for a 85.5 percent 3-point field goal percentage in the first half alone and finished the game shooting 64.3 percent from beyond the arc.
“In preparing for Hope, we can’t come out flat on defense,” Henley said. “Hope is a solid team and recently [moved to the ranking of] No. 12 in the country among Division III schools. We certainly have a challenge on Saturday, but a great opportunity to play some tough competition.”
The Belles and the Flying Dutch will square off at Angela Athletic Facility on Saturday at 3 p.m.
