RENSSELAER, Ind. ---- A jumper by St. Joseph's Montrell Mills with just four seconds remaining was the difference, as the Bellarmine University women's basketball team fell to the Pumas, 73-71 on Sunday afternoon in Great Lakes Valley Conference action.

The loss is the third in a row for the Knights and moves them to 4-3, 0-2 in the GLVC while the Pumas pick up their first conference victory and are 4-3, 1-1 in the GLVC.

The teams battled back and forth in opening half, trading buckets in the games first 15 minutes. The host Pumas went ahead 30-29 with 4:20 left on a three from Jasmyne Reynolds, but the Knights finished the half on a 13-2 run to take a 43-32 lead into the locker room.

Kylie Brady was the star early on, going for 18 points, on 6-9 shooting, in the first half to go along with 2 rebounds and 2 assists for the Knights as they shot 55% in the first half.

Out of the break, SJC came with increased pressure, forcing the Knights, who only committed six first half turnovers, in miscues on four of their first seven second half possessions while pulling the game even at 44.

The final 15 minutes of the game were tight as neither team leading by more than five points. With the Pumas leading by one at 69-68 and just thirty seconds on the clock, Bellarmine forced SJC into a bad shot, but the Pumas' Kayla Stout was there to grab the offensive rebound, knocking down two free throws after Bellarmine was forced to foul.

On the ensuing position, Brady found an open Allison Matheis who drained a long three to tie the game at 71-71. After a timeout, Mills, a fifth-year senior, drove to the lane and flipped up a shot that sank with just four ticks on the clock, Bellarmine's Therese Montano could not convert a three at the buzzer as the Pumas escaped with the win.

Brady led all scorers in the game with 25 while Matheis had a career high 22 points on 5-8 shooting from beyond the arc for the Knights. The veteran duo hit 17-26 from the field while the rest of the Knights struggled, making just 10 of 36 attempts. The hero Mills had 22 for the Pumas, who were coming of a 106-101 3OT loss to Northern Kentucky on Thursday night. 

Bellarmine will have some downtime before moving onto a three game Christmas road trip, traveling to Oakland City on Dec. 11, before heading to the state of New York for two games against Concordia College of New York and the New York Institute of Technology.

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