Despite being led by a quartet of seniors on the scoreboard Saturday, Saint Mary’s ended its season at Albion this weekend with a 75-51 loss.
In her final game, senior captain Krista Knapke led the charge for the Belles (1-24, 1-15 MIAA) with her eighth double-double of the season, scoring 12 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.
Saint Mary’s got off to a slow start, as the Britons (10-15, 6-10) held an early 14-0 advantage before Knapke scored to get the Belles on the board. Knapke lead the charge for the Belles into the second quarter with the first two buckets of the period, cutting the lead to just 10 points. However, that was the closest the game got, as Saint Mary’s was unable to cut the lead to single digits and trailed by 18 at halftime.
The Britons opened the second half with a 10-2 run, but after this initial setback, Saint Mary’s outscored Albion 9-4 in the remainder of the third. In the final quarter, both teams turned on their offenses, as the Belles and Britons combined for 51 points in the game’s final 10 minutes; the Belles scored 12 points in the final three minutes on 5-for-7 shooting.
Albion shot well throughout the game, shooting 40 percent in the first half and 47.2 percent in the second half, and had four players in double figures, led by senior center Darian Payne and freshman guard Jay Bard, who each had 14 points.
Knapke was not the only Belles player to hit double digits Saturday, as senior forward Eleni Shea had 12 and senior guard Sarah Macius contributed 10 to the Belles’ effort. Senior guard Maddie Kohler poured in eight as Saint Mary’s seniors scored 42 of the team’s 51 points.
The Belles were on the wrong side of the turnover battle Saturday: Saint Mary’s scored just nine points off 16 Albion turnovers while the Britons scored 22 off 25 Belles turnovers.
