SMC Basketball: Belles give Dutch a scare
By: JOE LINDSLEY
Sports Writer
Saint Mary's expected Hope to be a tough opponent Wednesday night. Hope probably didn't expect the same of Saint Mary's.
But if the Flying Dutch did not expect much from the Belles before the game, they soon realized just how badly the Belles wanted an upset victory during the first few minutes of the contest at Hope College's Dow Center.
Hope (21-1, 10-1 MIAA) continued to distance itself from the rest of the conference as the Flying Dutch beat the Belles 74-64.
Considering Hope's prowess in the conference — on average they only allow their opponents 54.2 points while scoring 70.2 themselves — Saint Mary's had a successful night, even with injured star Anne Blair only playing 14 minutes.
"I thought the team really came out from the start ready to go. I was very, very impressed and proud of them, of the way they stepped on the court to play," said Belles' coach Suzanne Smith.
"It was amazing to look in our players' eyes the first 10 minutes and see the intensity in their eyes," she added.
"Our whole team [is pleased]. We improved and played so much better since the last time we played them. It is definitely encouraging," said senior guard Jamie Dineen.
The Belles started off strong, and stayed with the Flying Dutch throughout the first half. At the buzzer, Dineen sunk a 3 to put Saint Mary's within five, 31-26.
Because Blair had injured her thumb in practice Tuesday, she was only able to contribute two boards and an assist to the Belles' cause, but sophomore forward Katie Miller stepped up, scoring 22 points, including going 4-9 from beyond the arc.
Freshman Emily Creachbaum and Dineen helped the Belles rack up points with their totals of 12 and 15, respectively.
Despite Miller's shooting accuracy though, Hope's offense was able to take more shots and make more shots, and the defense was able to force turnovers and confuse Saint Mary's at times.
"Hope really put a lot of pressure on us, trying to force a lot of turnovers, gave us different defensive looks," Smith said. "They reached into their bag of tricks and threw out a couple of defensive looks that we weren't expecting."
Katie Boyce was aggressive at the boards, pulling down six, but Hope was able to out-rebound the Belles 31-26, thanks to efforts by Laura Poppema, Amy Brower, and Amy Baltmanis.
Although Saint Mary's started the game with much focus and assertiveness, its intensity started to fizzle during the second half.
The Belles shot 60 percent from the floor in the first half, but lost accuracy as they attempted more shots in the second, when they went 15-30 from the field. The Belles only went to the line five times and made three of those shots, while the Flying Dutch were 6-11 in free throws.
Aided by Miller's four 3-pointers, the Belles' shot 50 percent from beyond the arc, while the Flying Dutch — typically not a 3-point shooting team — shot just 33.3 percent in six attempts.
Overall, Saint Mary's is pleased to have finished within 10 points of the top-ranked team in the conference, but, as they look forward to playing at Olivet on Saturday, there is still some disappointment.
"They really expected to win tonight," said Smith.
The Belles (7-15, 3-8 MIAA) are currently ranked second to last in the conference standings.
All Sports Stories for Thursday, February 7, 2002
