The Alma Women's Basketball team hosted MIAA foe Saint Mary's on Saturday and were looking for their first league win of the season. However, the visiting Belles had different ideas, as they defeated the Scots, 82-72 at Art Smith Arena. Alma fell to 0-10 in the league and 1-18 overall, while the Belles are now 14-6 in 2010-11 and 7-4 in the league.
"There is no doubt that we consistently play hard every night," said Alma Head Coach Keisha Brown. "But, we need to be more consistent with our play on the court. We played the #1 team in the country on Wednesday and held them to just 48 points, but then we come back today and make mistakes on the defensive side and give up 82 points. Yes, we are young, but we need to find a way to correct our deficiencies."
The game was close for most of the first half, and the Scots held a 16-15 advantage at the 11:05 mark after So. G Stephanie Faller (Saginaw, MI/Valley Lutheran) completed a three-point play. However, the Belles outscored the Scots by a margin of 22-7 over the next nine minutes for a 37-23 lead with 2:57 remaining in the half.
Alma finished the half very strongly as they closed out with a 13-2 run, cutting the deficit to three, 39-36, at halftime. The Scots shot 44.4% in the first half (16 of 36) and hit three from beyond the arc, while the Belles were good on 48.4% (15 of 31) of their shots.
Saint Mary's strong start in the second half squelched any Alma comeback, as the Belles outscored the home team 10-2 in the first four minutes. SMC was able to extend the advantage to 16 points, their biggest lead of the game, at 68-52 with 12:43 remaining. The closest Alma would get the rest of the way was eight points, as the Belles methodically put the game away for the ten point victory.
Sr. F Sydney Beckwith (Weidman, MI/Beal City) led all Alma scorers with 23 points and also added eight rebounds, while Jr. G Jessica DeBruin (Muskegon, MI/Mona Shores) contributed 16 points, including four three-pointers.
Fr. F Sarah Stinson (Waterford, MI/Ketterin) had a career-high 15 rebounds and So. G Danielle Hicks (Marshall, MI/Marshall) added 10 boards for the Scots. In addition, Fr. G Anna Mattson (Brighton, MI/Brighton) contributed 10 points in 15 minutes of action.
The Scots continue play on Wednesday evening, when they travel to Trine University to take on the Thunder. Alma will hold their annual Breast Cancer Game next Saturday, when they host Albion College at 1:00 p.m. The Scots' Men will take on Hope College beginning at approximately 3:00 p.m.
