(sortable) | Box Score (html)
Bellarmine (9-9, 3-7 GLVC): 78
Southern Indiana (7-11, 1-9 GLVC): 70

LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Despite its best offensive effort since mid-December, the University of Southern Indiana women's basketball team could not keep up with host Bellarmine University as the Screaming Eagles lost a 78-70 Great Lakes Valley Conference bout Thursday evening.

USI (7-11, 1-9 GLVC) erased a pair of 10-point deficits, one in the first half and another in the second period, but trailing 56-52 with nine minutes to play, USI saw the Knights go on a 5-0 run that seemed to take the wind out of the Eagles' sails.

Still, USI continued to come at the Knights, cutting the nine-point deficit to five with layups by freshman forward/center Anna Hackert and sophomore forward/center Nicole Hazemi.

A scoring drought that lasted nearly two minutes, however, allowed the Knights to push their lead back to nine points and, once again, take away the Eagles' momentum.

Turnovers plagued the Eagles during the stretch as they gave the ball away on three straight possessions without getting a shot off.

After falling down by 11 with 2:34 to play in the contest, the Eagles started one final push when senior guard/forward Kristin Raker drained a three-pointer with just over two minutes remaining on the clock.

A pair of free throws by sophomore guard Stephanie Carpenter cut the Knights' advantage to 71-65 with 1:25 left to play, but the Knights, on their next possession, got a foul called on Raker as senior guard Allison Matheis was firing up a desperation three-pointer with the shot clock winding down. Matheis hit all three free throws to put the Knights up by nine.

Raker, who led the Eagles with 14 points, hit a three-pointer on USI's next possession to close the gap to six points, but that's as close as the Eagles could get as the Knights held on for the eight-point win, their third in a row and their first over USI in the last five meetings.

In addition to Raker, the Eagles got 13 points from Carpenter as well as 12 points Hackert and freshman forward Brooke Valentine, who scored all of her 12 points in the second period, including USI's first 10 of the half. Senior guard Cootie Leeberg dished out a career-high seven assists in the loss.

Junior guard Kylie Brady led the Knights (9-9, 3-7 GLVC) with a game-high 18 points, while sophomore guard Therese Montano added 17 points.

USI, which reached the 70-point plateau for the first time in nine games, returns to action Saturday at 1 p.m. when it hosts Northern Kentucky University at the Physical Activities Center. The Norse (14-4, 7-3 GLVC) defeated Kentucky Wesleyan College, 64-51, Thursday evening in Highland Heights, Kentucky.