The Saint Mary's basketball team endured a devastating 91-72 loss to the No. 5 ranked Hope Wednesday.
The Belles looked like they could contend with Hope, but began to lose steam at the end. Saint. Mary's scored the first basket of the game and even held a 14-7 lead early. However, little by little Hope came back with its onslaught of 3-pointers.
At the start of the second half, Saint Mary's came out sluggish and the Flying Dutch took advantage. The 50-38 lead that the Flying Dutch held at halftime increased and eventually overwhelmed the Belles.
The Flying Dutch forced Saint Mary's to play defense further out to guard the 3-pointers, which then opened up the inside. Saint Mary's battled and even controlled the area under the basket for some time. They rebounded well during the game, especially senior Anna Kammrath.
The forward had an all-around stellar game, especially on the boards. She set a single-game school record with 23 rebounds. Kammrath fell one short of setting the MIAA single-game record.
Despite the loss, the Belles did have some promising performances. Kammrath led all Belles scores with 18 points with sophomore Patsy Mahoney adding 17.
The Belles, now 8-5, 3-2 in the MIAA, will prepare for another conference game at Olivet Saturday at 1 p.m.
