Belles look to get over .500 mark
By KATIE McVOY
Assistant Sports Editor
Saint Mary's basketball is hungry for a win tonight, after a stale 3-4 run over the holiday break. Dropping games to Goshen, Hope College, Calvin College and Alma College, tonight's meeting with Olivet has the Belles ready for a win.
Tonight the Belles will hit the road take on the Comets of Olivet in Michigan. Both teams are tied for fifth place in the MIAA, with records of 1-3. However, Olivet's overall record of 9-5 tops Saint Mary's record of 7-7.
The real story is not in the teams' records, but their history. Last year the Belles and the Comets battled to remain out of the last place position in MIAA rankings.
Saint Mary's faced Olivet three times last season. The last meeting was in the MIAA playoffs. The Belles defeated the Comets and claimed the No. 7 spot, forcing the Comets into eighth.
"It's a big rivalry between the two teams," Smith said. "There may be a revenge factor playing [Wednesday]."
The Belles and the Comets will face off for the first time this year in "The Cage," a nickname for the small, dark Olivet gym. The game promises to be aggressive.
"We know that we have to come out strong," Smith said. "[Olivet] is a very physical team."
The Belles started break with a 59-77 loss to Goshen and finished with a 51-75 loss to Hope College Saturday, the Belles' vacation play was not as rewarding as they wanted it to be.
"Everyone has put in a lot of effort," head coach Suzanne Smith said. "But we need the reinforcement of a big win."
Saint Mary's took on league leader Hope Saturday, dropping the game 51-75. Hope came into the game with a 3-0 league record and a 12-1 record overall, good enough to place the Flying Dutch in the top 20 Division III women's teams in the nation.
"Although the women were not satisfied with the game, they were happy with what they did," Smith said. "They played hard and it was never a blowout."
The team came into the Hope game following their worst loss of the season against another MIAA leader, Calvin. They lost the game 52-35.
Like Hope, the Calvin Knights came into the game with an undefeated conference record. The Belles did not rise to the challenge, shooting only 18 percent from the field.
Saint Mary's had taken on Alma College four days earlier on Jan. 6.
The Belles hung with Scots, losing by only 5 points, 57-62. Alma currently holds the No. 2 spot in MIAA rankings, with only a single defeat.
Coming into the Alma game, the Belles were coming off of three wins against league competition Albion and non-conference teams Rose-Hulman and Anderson.
The Belles defeated the Albion Britons 61-52 in a conference match.
"We played very well against Albion, it being the first conference game of the year," Smith said.
"Anderson and Rose-Hulman were unbelievable wins."
The Dec. 16 game against Rose-Hulman ended with a lay-up by Julie Norman to bring Saint Mary's to 67-66 victory over Rose-Hulman.
Anderson was another tight win. The Belles took that game only 59-56.
All Sports Stories for Wednesday, January 17, 2001
