SMC Basketball: Belles' upset of Adrian falls short
By: JOE LINDSLEY
Sports Writer
Saint Mary's was on the verge of an upset until the final minutes of their game Saturday afternoon against Adrian College. The Belles lost to the Bulldogs 81-76.
Coming off a home win over Olivet, the Belles were expecting the short, but physically strong Adrian squad to present a formidable challenge.
And for the most part, the Belles rose to meet that challenge.
The Bulldogs and the Belles were neck and neck for most of the first half, and the Belles led 44-41 at the half. They proceeded to hold the lead for the first 14 minutes of the second half.
It was then that the Bulldogs increased their shooting accuracy, while Saint Mary's got into foul trouble, and was hurt by missed free throws.
"We were just thinking upset. We knew they were a good team from last year. Last year they beat us by a considerable amount," said Belles senior Elizabeth Linkous. "We just decided if we went in there and played our game we would beat them. And we played our game, but I think if we would have made our foul shots we would have won."
Saint Mary's shot 46.7 percent from the line, a drastic change from its 87.5 percent shooting Wednesday night versus Olivet. Adrian sunk 20 free throws out of 23 attempts, and the Bulldogs' Ra'Sheida Edwards, the MIAA Player of the Week, went 5-5 from the line, adding to her 19 points and seven boards.
The missed free throws, combined with weak rebounding — the Belles had 20 boards to the Bulldog's 44 — gave Adrian the edge.
"In past games, we've been hitting all our free throws and then this game we let it drop off a little," Linkous said.
Despite their weaknesses, the Belles are pleased with their overall performance.
"I'm not upset at all because we played really well," said Katie Miller. "It would have been better if we had won obviously."
"I'm pretty happy. Last year we won eight games," Linkous said. "This year we've already won six. We're not all the way through the first round of conference play."
The Belles have also overcome another weakness, the loss of four key players.
"I think it affected us at first, but now, we've gotten past that and we know that the team we have now we are going to have to work with," Linkous said. "Coach Smith thought we played excellent. It was a really big step up from the past games we've played."
Emily Creachbaum had 15 points for the Belles. Miller, with her four assists and 14 points, that included four three pointers, had an impressive afternoon.
The Belles will take on Kalamazoo on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
All Sports Stories for Monday, January 21, 2002
