Box Score Liberty, Mo. — Despite a double-double from senior forward
Kelsey Lamb, the Bellarmine women's basketball team failed to capitalize on their late-game opportunities and dropped their Great Lakes Valley Conference opener to the William Jewell Cardinals, 62-70, in Liberty, Mo. on Friday evening.
"It's disappointing. We weren't doing what we have practiced," said head coach
Chancellor Dugan. "You can't have as many turnovers as we had tonight and win, and you have to make shots."
Lamb had 13 points and a career-high 12 rebounds in her 18 minutes off the bench for Bellarmine. Lamb's spark was not enough, however, as the Cardinals' strong second half shooting and Bellarmine's struggles prevented a BU comeback late in the game.
Bellarmine (4-5, 0-1 GLVC) opened up a 10-point lead, 12-2, at the 16:27 mark in the first half following a 12-0 run by the Knights. Bellarmine hammered the ball into the paint where they scored eight of their first 12 points. The Knights' post presence was punctuated by an old-fashioned three-point play on a layup and free throw by junior forward
Morgan Clemons after a bullet pass by sophomore forward
Sarah Galvin. Clemons' second bucket of the game extended Bellarmine's early lead to 6-2 with 17:47 left in the first half.
Three more BU layups over the next 1:20 capped the run, and vaulted the Knights to a 12-2 lead. Bellarmine forced the Cardinals into four fouls in the first three minutes of action and held William Jewell to just 0-for-7 shooting from the field to start the game.
William Jewell (7-3, 2-0 GLVC) outscored Bellarmine 15-7 over the last 10 minutes of the first period and the Knights went to the break up by just two, 32-30.
The second half was all Cardinals as the home side limited the Bellarmine offense to 13-for-41 (31.7 percent) shooting from the field and 2-for-11 (18.2 percent) from three-point range in the second half and forced 10 Knights turnovers.
William Jewell shot out of the break into a 12-4 run. The home side took a six point lead, 42-36, after the second of WJC's junior forward Hayli jo Smith's three-pointers in the opening minutes of the second half. The Cardinals extended their lead to 14, 54-40, with 12:05 remaining in the game before freshman guard
Jessica Hardin and sophomore center
Jennifer Smith ignited the Bellarmine offense off the bench.
Facing a 14-point second half deficit, Smith and Hardin combined for 14 of Bellarmine's next 16 points, including eight straight points by Hardin. The freshman also picked up three offensive rebounds and a steal as Bellarmine's 17-6 run pulled the Knights to within 3, 57-60, with 5:34 remaining.
"I like the fight in our kids. They don't quit," said Dugan.
However, Bellarmine faded down the stretch. The Knights missed a number of key shots, finishing the game shooting 2-for-7 from the field, 0-for-5 from 3, and 1-for-5 from the line. The Cardinals' 8-0 run over the next 4:06 all but put the game out of reach for the visitors, as they faced an 11-point deficit, 57-68 with 1:28 left.
Despite five points in the last 27 seconds of the game, Bellarmine couldn't close the gap and fell 62-70.
One game after knocking down more than 44 percent of their threes and 83 percent of their free throws, Bellarmine shot just 24-for-66 (36.4 percent) from the field and 4-for-21 (19.0 percent) from three-point range against William Jewell. The Knights also finished the game just 10-for-19 (52.6 percent) from the free throw line.
The Knights owned the boards, pulling in a season-high 56 rebounds, including 25 on the offensive end. Bellarmine leads the Great Lakes Valley Conference with 125 offensive rebounds and will likely keep that top spot with another strong performance on the glass.
Bellarmine finished with 20 turnovers and a season-low eight assists, after their season-high 20-assist performance against Trevecca Nazarene on Dec. 21.
Hardin finished the game with nine points and a career-high seven boards, including two treys. Smith played 13 minutes and hit four of her eight shots, scoring eight points and grabbing five rebounds.
The night, however, belonged to Lamb who had one of the best performances of her career. The senior shot 6-for-9 from the field for 13 points, one shy of her career-high, and seven of her 12 rebounds came on the offensive glass.
"I thought [Hardin] and Lamb have been huge spark plugs for us this season. They've done a great job," said Dugan.
The Cardinals shot 21-for-55 (38.2 percent) from the field, 4-for-14 (28.6 percent) from 3, and 24-34 (70.6 percent) from the free throw line for the game. William Jewell grabbed 25 rebounds and had both 12 assists and 12 turnovers.
William Jewell was led by senior guard Chelsea Meeks' 21 points and five rebounds, including 12-for-13 from the line. Hayli Jo Smith added 17 for the Cardinals and junior guard Aerial Smith had 12 points on a perfect 5-for-5 shooting.
Bellarmine led the way with 30 points in the paint to WJC's 24 and 20 second-chance points to the Cardinals' six. William Jewell scored 17 points off of Bellarmine's 20 turnovers and Bellarmine scored nine off of the home side's 12 giveaways.
"We're going to be a good team" said Dugan, "I just hope it's sooner rather than later."
The Knights will continue their brief road trip with a game on Sunday, Jan. 5 at Rockhurst at 2:00 p.m. Eastern. Bellarmine lost 55-57 in the teams' last meeting on Jan. 5, 2012, exactly two years prior.
