Saint Mary’s lost its final home game of the season to undefeated No. 7 Calvin on Monday night, 96-62, in a game that was supposed to be played on Saturday afternoon but was postponed due to severe weather.
Caitlyn Jordan | The Observer
Caitlyn Jordan | The Observer
Calvin (23-0, 14-0 MIAA) scored 11 of the game’s first 13 points to take an early 11-2 lead. The Belles (3-20, 1-13 MIAA) responded with an 8-2 run to cut the deficit to three with just under 13 minutes left in the first half. After the Knights and the Belles exchanged baskets, the Knights went on a 12-0 run over the next three minutes to take a 27-12 advantage.
The Belles clawed back with a 7-2 run, however, Calvin quickly widened its lead again, as a 9-1 run brought the score to 38-20. The Belles made all five shot attempts they took in the final two-and-a-half minutes of the first half, as five Belle players combined to score 10. At halftime, the score was 44-30 in favor of Calvin.
The Knights scored the first eight points of the second half to extend their lead to 52-30. Saint Mary’s made an effort to get back in the game with an 11-6 run to make the score 58-41 with 13 minutes left in the second half. The Belles' renewal of hope was short-lived, though, as the Knights went on a 21-6 run to take control of the game for good.
The Belles had a total field-goal percentage of 40.3 percent in the game, while the Knights shot 53 percent from the field. Saint Mary’s had 40 rebounds to Calvin's 38. The Belles had 18 offensive rebounds and the Knights had 11.
“We out-rebounded a very tough Calvin team,” Belles coach Jennifer Henley said. “I thought we handled their full court press a lot better than the last time we played them. We still had too many turnovers. That needs to change as we prepare to close out the season this week."
Henley said the last-minute schedule change did not change the outcome of the game.
"I don't believe the postponement of this game had an effect on our performance," Henley said. "Now we have three games in one week, so we need to try and save our legs as we hit the road for the last two games.”
Senior guard Ariana Paul was the Belles leading scorer with 16 points, one assist and nine rebounds. The Belles' lone senior, Paul is only 30 points away from scoring 1,000 points in her career. Junior forward Krista Knapke was the only other Belle to reach double-digit points with 13, and she added one assist and five rebounds. Junior forward Eleni Shea was the next highest scorer, recording nine points to go along with one assist and four rebounds.
The Belles' next game is a conference game against Albion on the road on Wednesday night at 8 p.m.
