EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Bellarmine University women's basketball team started with a 14-2 lead over the University of Saint Francis (Ind.) on Sunday afternoon, but could not maintain the advantage in a 74-68 loss to the Cougars at the University of Southern Indiana's Physical Activities Center.

Bellarmine's Lauren Jones scored a game-high 28 points off 11-15 shooting from the field, and collected six rebounds in playing every second of the contest.

The Knights (2-2) scored the first 11 points of the game, courtesy of three-point field goals by Allison Matheis and Chelsea Hawkins, and led by as many as 12 points before a 29-6 run by Saint Francis gave the Cougars a 31-20 advantage with four minutes remaining in the first half.  The Knights would find themselves trailing by the same margin at the halftime break.

In the second half, Saint Francis (7-1) extended their lead to as many as 17 points with 17:51 to play.  However, Bellarmine refused to go down quietly, as Kylee Hamilton contributed seven points during a 13-4 run to close the deficit to six points with just over 13 minutes remaining.

Saint Francis delivered a devastating blow immediately after with nine consecutive points to take a 57-42 lead.  Bellarmine managed to chip away at the lead, but managed to only come within four points after a Matheis three with 63 seconds to play.

Turnovers were the story of the game.  Bellarmine committed 22, compared to Saint Francis' 14, and the Cougars accumulated 13 steals, while the Knights managed three.

Hamilton (13) and Matheis (12) joined Jones in scoring double figures for Bellarmine, while Matheis collected a game-high nine rebounds.  Therese Montano came off the bench to deliver a game-high six assists.

Bellarmine hits the road for their first Great Lakes Valley Conference game of the season on Thursday night with a matchup against Kentucky Wesleyan College.  Tipoff is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. at the Owensboro Sportscenter.

Boxscore