The Alma College Women's Basketball team traveled to Saint Mary's Saturday afternoon for a MIAA contest and dropped a 72-50 decision to the Belles.  Alma is now 1-5 (1-1 MIAA) on the season, while Saint Mary's improved to 1-1 in the league and 3-5 in 2011-12.

"We came out slow today and dug ourselves a hole that's not easy to get out of against a team as good as Saint Mary's" said Alma Head Coach Keisha Brown. "We were rushed because of getting there late and the kids played that way. We will take tomorrow off and then get back at it on Monday to get ready for Spring Arbor."

The Belles took advantage of a cold shooting Alma team in the first half and currently have a 30-33 advantage at halftime. With the exception of a 2-2 tie early, Saint Mary's led the entire half as the Scots shot just 21% in the first 20 minutes.

The Scots were down by 19 at 26-7 with 8:18 remaining in the half, but outscored the Belles by a margin of 15-4 the rest of the way to cut that deficit to eight points at halftime. 

However, Saint Mary's outscored Alma 25-8 during the first eight minutes of the second half to take a 25-point lead at 55-30 with 12:12 left in the game. It was a deficit the Scots could not overcome as the closest the Scots could come was at 18 points (62-44) with 4:24 remaining.

Even though Alma shot a bit better in the second half, they still finished at just 31% (17 of 55) and hit only three of 18 attempts from beyond the arc. Saint Mary's finished at 43% (25 of 58) and added 21 free throws in the victory. 

So. F Bailey Gooding (Gaylord, Mich./Gaylord) led Alma in scoring with 13 points and also had a team-high five steals to go with six rebounds. Jr. G Danielle Hicks (Marshall, Mich./Marshall) added eight points and paced the Scots with seven rebounds, while So. F Sarah Stinson (Waterford, Mich./Kettering) contributed six boards.