BELOIT—As the Beloit College women’s basketball team headed to the locker room with a double-digit lead, there wasn’t a single look of contentment on any player’s face.
The Buccaneers were beating Mount Mary, a program that has never had a winning record and struggled for most of its existence, 38-21. But Beloit had been outscored 17-16 in the second quarter, and each Buc knew the squad wasn’t playing to its full potential.
“We just wanted to make sure that we were holding our standard,” head coach Natalie Miller said. “We had the talk at halftime of ‘This isn’t our standard.’ Talking about how you do anything is how you do everything and how we can be better.”
Beloit regrouped and came out looking much more dynamic on offense, with hot-shooting from inside and outside of the paint, and started to wreak havoc defensively as it surged ahead for the 88-56 win on Wednesday night at Flood Arena.
“We all looked at each other like ‘What are we doing right now?,’’ senior guard Elizabeth Kalk said. “We weren’t playing like ourselves. Offensively we were doing okay, shots just weren’t falling.
“But defensively we were being lazy, getting backdoored and giving them three or four chances they shouldn’t have had.”
Of course the standard has changed quite a bit these days within the program. It was just three years ago that the Bucs went winless in the Midwest Conference after winning just once the previous season.
Now, Beloit is 9-13 overall, sits at 6-7 in conference play and is tied for sixth. The top four teams make the MWC Tournament and with three games left, the Bucs are in contention for the last spot.
“It’s about not putting pressure on ourselves,” Miller said. “Last year we were picked to finish last (in the preseason coaches’ poll). And now we are fighting for a chance in the conference tournament. People didn’t expect us to win, so take the pressure off yourself and go ‘We’re better than this.’”
Beloit’s offense was effective in the first quarter against the Blue Angels (10-11). Hannah Welte hit three treys while Kalk added six points as the Bucs went 8-for-16 shooting and led 22-4 after the first quarter.
After the sloppy second quarter helped Mount Mary make the score a bit more respectful, Beloit got back to business in the third. Welte aced another trey out of the gate as the Bucs held the Angels to 50% shooting and went 10-for-12 from the field.
Kalk scored 10 points in the third while Hailey Johnson and Marlee Young each added four as Beloit bumped its lead up to 64-37.
Late in the penultimate quarter, Kalk stepped up to the free-throw line and sank the first shot. The second attempt hit nothing but net and prompted the crowd and bench to erupt as the Clinton graduate notched her 1,000th career point to become the 16th player in program history to reach the mark. She also snatched her 400th career rebound in Wednesday's contest.
“It’s really cool,” said Kalk, who finished with seven rebounds and six assists. “I honestly didn't know until my coach pulled me over and was like, ‘Hey, so you're like four points away’. And I was like, ‘What?' It was kind of unexpected. But I think I'm more proud of the 400 rebounds.”
The 5-foot-10 guard has a knack for her jumper shots and finishes at the rim, but she is well-rounded all over the court as she excels at passing, commanding the boards and forcing turnovers.
“Liz is just an incredible player,” Miller said. “And the fact that she did it while not having a freshman season because of Covid is an incredible feat. So many great high school players come to the college level expecting to have that same impact, but it's a harder level. It's hard to do that. So the fact that she reached that in just a few years with a couple games left is phenomenal.”
With the win sealed, Beloit mostly used its bench in the final quarter, and they kept it a rout. Alexis Ross scored nine points and the Bucs outscored Mount Mary 24-19 in the frame.
“There's not enough that can be said about just making sure that those players get experience because the game speed is so different from practice speed,” Miller said. “We have a deep team, and this definitely helps our team if we need spot minutes from them going forward.”
12 different Beloit players scored for Beloit with Kalk recording 16 and both Welte and Ross adding 12.
“Our communication and seeing each other (helped us offensively),” said Welte, who ended with four three-pointers. “Our ball movement was really good tonight. We were unselfish — almost everybody scored and it was a really good game for the whole team.”
The Bucs ended with 21 assists as they finished shooting at 47.8% (33-for-69) and held a 48-33 advantage on the boards.
Beloit will need to win out and get at least a little help in the crowded MWC. Illinois College is third at 8-5 and Grinnell holds the final tourney spot at 7-6 while Lawrence is 7-7 and Cornell is even with the Bucs at 6-7.
Beloit finishes with Knox, who is in second at 9-4, Grinnell and Lake Forest.
“We are a defensive team, but we still have breakdowns every now and then,” Welte said. “We have to make sure we don't break down and do all the little things (right). We have to be able to produce on offense and hit our shots like we were tonight.”
• BOXSCORE:
BELOIT 88, MOUNT MARY 56
Mount Mary 4 17 16 19 - 56
Beloit 22 16 26 24 - 88
MOUNT MARY (fg-fga ft-fta pts) – Ballard 1-3 8-12 11, Bobo 4-13 1-3 11, Rivers 3-15 4-5 10, Hatcher 2-6 6-8 10, Noriega 3-5 0-0 6, Mendez 1-6 1-2 4, Mendez 1-6 1-2 4, Lucas 1-6 0-0 2, Jamison 1-4 0-0 2. Totals: 16-58 20-30 56.
BELOIT COLLEGE (fg ft-fta pts) – Kalk 6-12 4-6 16, Welte 3-5 0-0 12, Ross 5-8 0-0 12, Moreno 3-7 1-2 8, Young 3-6 0-0 6, Wesley 2-4 0-0 6, Bayo 2-4 1-1 5, Johnson 2-4 1-2 5, Davis 1-2 2-2 5, Richardson 2-4 0-0 5, McNair 2-7 0-0 4, Aguilera 1-3 1-2 4, Estrada 0-3 0-0 0. Totals: 33-69 10-15 88.
3-pt. Goals: MM 4-19 (Bobo 2-5, Mendez 1-5, Ballard 1-2, Rivers 0-3, Jamison 0-2, Noriega 0-1, Lucas 0-1), BC (Welte 4-5, Wesley 2-3, Ross 2-2, Moreno 1-2, Richardson 1-2, Aguilera 1-2, Davis 1-1, Kalk 0-3, Estrada 0-3, McNair 0-2, Johnson 0-1). Fouled out: none. Total fouls: MM 13, BC 22. Rebounds: MM 33 (Ballard, Mendez, Rivers 7), BC 48 (Kalk, McNair 7). Assists: MM 8 (Rivers 3), BC 21 (Kalk 6).
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