Concordia
On Friday night, Saint Mary’s faced Concordia Chicago for the first time in basketball history and earned their first win of the season 78-69, an impressive feat since the Belles didn’t have the pre-season they had hoped for. This game pushed Saint Mary’s to a record of 1-1 while the Cougars fell to 0-3.
The first quarter of the game was extremely tight, with both teams displaying defensive control as neither were able to lead by more than two points at a time. The Belles were able to hold Concordia down and control the scoreboard. However, the Cougars fought back and sank a 3-pointer despite the Belles’ efforts. Offensively, freshman guard Caroline Langworthy answered, making the same shot soon after. The Belles were able to finish the quarter strong with credit to junior guard Kate Restovich, who scored five points, assisting the 17-16 score.
Early into the second, Saint Mary’s extended their lead by nine points with big performances from senior forward Hannah Outlaw, making her first appearance and scoring seven points, junior guard Annie Restovich, scoring six, and sophomore guard Ella Notaro, also tallying six. By the half, Saint Mary’s was outshooting Concordia as they went six for 13 from the field goal.
The back half of the game was off to a rough start when the Cougars went on a 12-3 scoring run to make their first big lead of the game 50-49. Annie Restovich scored seven more points to push her to 13 on the night. The fourth quarter was vicious basketball from both teams, but Saint Mary’s pushed harder and went on a 10-0 scoring run, taking back the lead and holding it until the buzzer.
Kate Restovich and Annie Restovich led the team by scoring 16 points each. Outlaw followed closely behind with 14, and Notaro scored 11.
Hiram
Also playing each other for the first time in school history, Saint Mary’s played Hiram College during their second game at The Inn at Saint Mary’s Classic, earning an 86-55 victory. The Belles moved to 2-1 on the season while the Terriers fell to 0-3.
The first half of the game was extremely active for the Belles, going on a 20-5 scoring run early to extend their lead to 25-13. The majority of their shots came from Annie Restovich at the 3-point line, who was three for three from the 3-point line and scored 10 points by the end of the first quarter. The back end of the half featured Saint Mary’s forcing five turnovers and an impressive half-court buzzer beater shot by sophomore guard Kate Passinault to give the Belles their largest lead of the game with 23 points and making the score 45-22 going into halftime.
The beginning of the second half saw routine basketball, but the fourth quarter saw things heat up on the court. Saint Mary’s made a 20-point run. Afterward, Langworthy made a conversion and pushed the run to 30 until 1:30 was left in the game.
Passinault led with 15 points, Annie Restovich and senior guard Nicole Connolly both scored 13 and Kate Restovich followed with 10.
Saint Mary’s will head to Hanover, Indiana, next weekend for the Hanover Invitational before traveling to Anderson University on Nov. 25.