KENOSHA, Wisc.--The Bellarmine University women's basketball team put up a gutsy effort but fell 69-59 this afternoon to the 2nd-seeded Wisconsin-Parkside Rangers in the opening round of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship.  

Bellarmine fell behind early and the Rangers built a lead as large as 19 in the first half.  Parkside settled for a 16-point bulge at the half going in to the locker room with a 42-26 lead.

The Knights, who were the tournament's No. 11 seed,  came roaring back in the second period and cut  the lead to just one on a Kylee Hamilton 3-pointer at the 11:09 mark. Bellarmine just never managed to overtake the host Rangers as every time Bellarmine made it a one possession game, Parkside would go on a quick spurt to keep the Knights at bay. 

The Knights, who have been plagued all season by injuries, once again had to regroup after leading scorer Lauren Jones went down with a possible concussion.  The second team All-GLVC junior played just 17 minutes before having to exit.  Freshman Hamilton picked up the scoring slack for the Knights and led the team with 18 points on six of 11 shooting, including making three of five beyond the arc.

Wisconsin-Parkside's Brittany Hagen led all scorers with 19, and Ranger point guard Kaitlyn Bettiga hit double digits in assists with 10.

For the game, Bellarmine shot a respectable 43.5 percent, but the Rangers had the hot shooting hand making 57.7 percent on the day. 

Bellarmine ends its season on an 8-game losing streak to finish with an 11-16 record.  Parkside ups its season mark to 22-5.

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