OWENSBORO, Ky. – The Bellarmine University women's basketball team started the 2010-11 Great Lakes Valley Conference season on Thursday night with an 87-81 victory over Kentucky Wesleyan College at the Sportscenter.

Lauren Jones scored 25 points off 7-13 shooting from the field to lead all scorers, and Jalissa Chatlos tallied 23 to go with her 10 rebounds, a game-high.

Trailing 37-34 at the halftime break, Bellarmine traded baskets for the first five minutes of the second stanza.  The Knights took the lead at 51-49 with 14:05 remaining off a Jones layup.

Bellarmine extended the lead to as many as eight points before the Panthers made a run of their own, taking a four-point advantage at 77-73 with 4:10 to play.  Chatlos' pair of free throws with 2:24 left in the contest gave BU an 82-81 lead they would never relinquish at the 2:24 mark.

The Knights committed 24 turnovers, compared to 18 for Kentucky Wesleyan.  For the game, Bellarmine connected on 13 of 27 three-point field goals, for a blistering 48.1 percent.

Bellarmine continues their conference-opening road trip on Saturday evening with a game against the University of Southern Indiana.  Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the PAC in Evansville.

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