Saturday's game against Kalamazoo was one step forward and one step back for Saint Mary's basketball. After struggling to score in the latter half of January, the team delivered a strong offensive performance, putting up 70 points on the Hornets. However, the Belles' defense wasn't able to hold Kalamazoo down, with the Hornets defending their home court in a 80-70 win.
While the Belles' offense was better on the whole, it took them a while to get going. Senior guard Elle Deardorff made a layup to get the team on the board 2:57 in, but Saint Mary's wouldn't hit another field goal for nearly 10 minutes. By that point, Kalamazoo had already built up a double-digit lead and would go on to complete a wire-to-wire win.
But the Belles wouldn't go down without a fight. After shooting 6.3% in the first quarter (1-16), Saint Mary's shot a much improved 36.5% (23-63) the rest of the way. After recording just one 20-point quarter in their four-game losing streak, the Belles recorded two on Saturday, putting up 21 points in the second quarter and 27 in the fourth. However, the Belles never found their stroke from 3-point range, going just 2-10. They were able to shrink the gap thanks to attempting 18 more field goals than their opponents and winning the turnover battle 21-15.
Ultimately, it wasn't enough to prevent their losing streak from reaching five games. The Belles have now surrendered at least 79 points in four straight games. The loss drops the team to 5-16 overall and 2-10 in conference play. Kalamazoo's win was its first conference victory of the season in 12 MIAA games.
The Belles will have a chance to get back in the win column Wednesday night when they face Olivet at 6 p.m. Olivet is sixth in the MIAA with a 5-8 conference mark and overall record of 8-14.
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