Box Score EVANSVILLE,  Ind. --- Senior Betsy Goodin's offensive rebound and put back with nine-tenths of a second left on the clock gave the Bellarmine University women's basketball team a 76-75 victory over Lake Superior State on Saturday afternoon in the opening game of the USI Thanksgiving Classic.

Goodin's heroics capped a furious final minute of play as Bellarmine (2-1) scored the final five points of the game to steal the victory. Lake Superior State (1-2) went ahead by four on a Kandace Crittendon jumper with 52 seconds remaining before Kylie Brady countered by hitting a three-pointer to pull the Knights within one. On the ensuing possession the senior from Elizabethtown, Ky. drew an offensive foul on Crittendon with 14 ticks left on the clock to set up the dramatic finish.

On the final play, junior Therese Montano drove to the left side of the lane and her layup rolled just off the rim, but Goodin flew in for the rebound, the last of her five offensive rebounds, and put it back in for the game winner. The put back gave Goodin her second double-double of her career, going for 11 points and 10 rebounds.

“Betsy does such a great job on the boards,” said first-year Bellarmine coach Chancellor Dugan. “She just finds a way to get her hands on the ball.”

The Knights trailed for the majority of the second half of the tightly contested game that saw 10 ties and nine lead changes. Allison Osen opened the final stanza with a layup to give Bellarmine its largest lead at 42-35, but the Lakers quickly countered, going on a 14-7 run to tie the game 49.

LSSU went ahead on a pair of Maria Blazejewski free throws, holding that lead for all but 20 seconds of the final 12 minutes leading up to the last play. Blazejewski gave the BU defense trouble throughout the game as the 6-0 senior led all scorers with 32 points, going 11-15 from the field and 9-10 from the free throw line.

Foul trouble plagued the Knights as they played the majority of the first half without three starters. The Knights withstood the foul trouble to lead at the break 40-35 with Lauren Jones coming off the bench to score 11 of 13 points in the period.

After a two-week layoff since her team's last game, Dugan was happy with BU's resiliency, “I was really pleased with the intensity that we had today. It says a lot about our character that we can withstand the foul trouble and a terrific performance by Lake Superior and pull out a win.”

That intensity led the Knights to dominate the Lakers on the glass, pulling down 17 offensive rebounds while holding LSSU to just five.

Osen finished with 13 points and five rebounds while Brady was the only other Knight to reach double-figures in scoring with 12 to go along with a career-high eight assists.

Bellarmine will return to the hardwood tomorrow in day two of the Thanksgiving Classic, taking on Notre Dame College at 1 p.m. (EST).

BOX SCORE