NOTRE DAME, Ind. - Saint Mary's College Basketball will return home this weekend as they kick off their home schedule hosting The Inn at Saint Mary's Classic.
 
The Classic will feature three teams visiting the Angela Athletic and Wellness Complex as fellow MIAA member Albion College along with Concordia University Chicago and Hiram College make the trip to Notre Dame, IN. The two day event will see Hiram and Albion face off on Friday at 5:30pm while Saint Mary's will take on Concordia at 7:30pm. The Classic will finish on Saturday as Concordia plays Albion at 1pm while Saint Mary's will play Hiram in the finale at 3pm.
 
Saint Mary's opened their season with a 76-60 loss at North Central College last Friday. Junior Kate Restovich (St. Louis, MO) led the Belles with 12 points while sophomore Kate Passinault (Grand Rapids, MI) added 11 and a team high eight rebounds. Freshman guard Liv Fry (Fort Wayne, IN) made her first collegiate start, leading the team with six assists.
 
The Belles played strong to open the game, leading for the majority of the first quarter against the Cardinals. After a struggling second quarter, the Belles offense picked it up in the second half, shooting 54.5% throughout the final 20 minutes. Saint Mary's also knocked down nine three pointers on the game, shooting 37.5% overall while hitting at least two per quarter.
 
Passinault shot an impressive 5-8 from the field while fellow sophomore Ella Notaro (Crystal Lake, IL) knocked down five of her six free throw attempts. Notaro led the group off the bench with nine of the 18 bench points.
 
Defensively, Restovich and Fry along with junior Annie Restovich (St. Louis, MO) added a steal each while Fry and Passinault added a block each. They held the Cardinals to shooting just 26.9% from three point while also allowing just a 60% free throw percentage on the game.
 
Concordia Chicago Cougars
Concordia starts their season 0-2 following an 85-26 loss at Franklin College and a 73-50 loss to North Central on Tuesday. Freshman guard Ai Yonemura is leading the team, averaging 13.5 points per game while sophomore forward Grace King is averaging 11.5 points per game. As a team, the Cougars are shooting 24.3% from the field just shooting just 7.3% from three point. The Cougars also grab 29 rebounds per game while allowing 45 and forcing 17 turnovers per game while turning the ball over 22.5 times themselves.
 
Hiram Terriers
Hiram started their season with an 84-53 loss to fellow MIAA member Adrian College. Senior guard Sarah Seaman led the team with 16 points while sophomore guard Isabella Caceres added 14. The Terriers grabbed 28 rebounds on the game while the Bulldogs grabbed 42. Hiram shot 33.3% from the field while shooting 25% from three point. They also shot 41.7% from the free throw line on 24 attempts. The Terriers forced the Bulldogs into 21 turnovers as sophomore guard Julia Gunn knabbed four steals.