HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky--- In the regular season finale, the Bellarmine University women's basketball could not overcome a physical performance from host Northern Kentucky, as the Knights fell 74-53 to the Norse in Great Lakes Valley Conference action.

The loss, combined with St. Joseph's upsetting Indianpolis, drops Bellarmine (13-13, 7-11 GLVC) to the tenth spot in this weekend's SCHEELS GLVC Tournament where the Knights will travel to Indianapolis to take on the Greyhounds.

Northern Kentucky (21-5, 14-4 GLVC) would click on all cylinders out of the gate, hitting five of their first six shots to race out to a 17-8 lead with 16:10 to play.

Senior Allison Matheis would make history at the 13:22 mark of the first half, nailing a three from right wing, her 69th of the season to set a new single-season record for Bellarmine. She would finish with a game-high 19 points on 5-6 shooting from beyond the arc.

Turnovers and missed rebounds would plague Bellarmine in the first half as their 12-21 (.571) shooting would be voided by nine miscues and NKU pulling down seven offensive boards. Even with the hot shooting, Bellarmine trailed 38-27 at the break after NKU's Sadie Bowling hit a fall-away jumper as the horn sounded.

Bellarmine appeared poised for a charge in the second half as Matheis would hit another three from the corner on the opening possession of the second half to cut the lead to eight. But that was as close as they would get as Bellarmine had several chances to get the lead under eight.

Known as one of the toughest defensive teams in the conference, NKU would tighten up on D in the second half, holding the Knights to just 9-30 (.300) in the final period.

But Bellarmine could never get the deficit under 10 points, as Northern Kentucky would pull away down the stretch to take the game 74-53.

Kylie Brady would be the only other Knight to reach double-figures, 15 points as the team shot 21-51 (.412) for the game and only got the free throw line five times, hitting three of them.

The Norse won the battle on the glass convincingly, 39-25, which included 15 offensive boards. Casse Mogan, a two time honorable mention All-American selection, finished with an all around stat line of 16 points, seven rebounds, six assists, and five steals.

With the regular season wrapped up, Bellarmine will look for a second life in the SCHEELS GLVC Tournament as they battle Indianapolis. Game time is set for 3:00 p.m.

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