Box Score LOUISVILLE, Ky. --- The Bellarmine Knights bounced back from their conference opening loss on Thursday to outlast the Illinois-Springfield Prairie Stars 65-55 on Sunday afternoon, picking up a key win in Great Lakes Valley Conference action.

Holding onto a four point lead with 9:02 to play, Bellarmine (11-2, 1-1 GLVC) blew the game open with a 9-0 run over the next three minutes to put away the Prairie Stars for good. With the loss, Illinois-Springfield drops to 4-6 on the year, 1-1 in the conference.

Kylie Brady led the Knights with 14 points and 5 assists with sophomore Darion Hutchinson and Rachel Greenwell chipping in 13 and 10 respectively. 

After Bellarmine scored the first five points of the game, the first half became a seesaw affair with neither team being able to build much of a lead. Senior forward Lauren Jones knocked down a pair of free throws after being fouled with 0.8 on the clock to give the Knights a 30-26 lead heading into halftime.

Bellarmine kept the lead throughout the second period, but could never pull away from UIS until the decisive run. That run was aided by the Knights tightening up on the defensive end, forcing Springfield into 12 of 31 shooting for the half.The focus of that defensive effort was on Megan Bergerud, who had 11 first-half points for Illinois-Springfield. BU limited Bergerud to just 7 after the break on 3-7 shooting.

With every player getting pulling down 2 rebounds; and no one getting more than Allison Osen's 6; Bellarmine continued their dominance in the rebounding category, winning the battle on the glass 38-32. The only two times the Knights have come out on the wrong end of the rebounding battle have resulted in a BU defeat.

The Knights now take their game on the road as they head to St. Louis on Thursday to take on Missouri-St. Louis before a Saturday bout with Maryville.

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