Box Score KANSAS CITY, Mo. — With another dominant performance in the paint, the Bellarmine University women's basketball team went into the Mason-Halpin Fieldhouse at Rockhurst University and claimed an important 76-74 Great Lakes Valley Conference road win over the Hawks on Sunday afternoon. The Knights collected 17 steals and 24 offensive rebounds in the win.

"I'm proud of the way we responded," said head coach Chancellor Dugan. "We were coachable today and did a great job on the boards."

Sophomore forward Sarah Galvin led the Knights with 13 points on 5-for-7 shooting, in addition to her four rebounds and four steals.

Bellarmine (5-5, 1-1 GLVC) was in danger of dropping their second straight conference game of the year as the minutes ticked away toward the final buzzer in Kansas City, Mo. Rockhurst stormed out of the halftime break into a 16-3 run to open the second period, and the home team led by 8, 53-45 with 14:16 to play in the game.

The Knights didn't quit and fought back. A pair of offensive rebounds and free throws pulled Bellarmine within 6, 53-59, at the 9:32 mark. With 8:38 remaining, Galvin stepped up. The Hendersonville, Tenn. native snagged a rebound and ran the length of the court in six seconds, laid the ball into the basket and drew a foul. After nailing the free throw, Rockhurst held just a three-point advantage, 59-56.

On the ensuing possession, Galvin stole the ball and converted a second straight fast break layup, cutting the margin to a single point, 58-59, with 8:13 to play.

Two minutes later, with the game tied, 62-62, Galvin's second steal in as many minutes and resulting basket gave the Knights the final lead they would need, 64-62. Bellarmine shot 4-for-6 from the field and 5-for-6 from the free throw line down the stretch, preventing a Hawks late-game comeback, and the Knights grabbed an important conference road win, 76-74.

All of Galvin's 13 points, four rebounds, and four critical steals came in the last 11:29 of the game, as her late-game heroics fueled the Bellarmine run.

"[Galvin] is a very good player. She didn't have the best start to the game, but she responded and finished great," said Dugan.

Bellarmine has used a pesky full-court press to trip up their opponents this season. Their pressure forced RU into 19 turnovers, with 17 of them on BU steals. Bellarmine gave the ball away 16 times on the day.

"I tell them all the time, if we can stay between 12 and 18 turnovers, we'll win a majority of our games because of how well we force turnovers," said Dugan. "We got them into 19 turnovers today and our press really bothered them."

Following the opening tip, the teams battled through a sloppy opening six minutes, as they combined for six early turnovers. However, despite the giveaways, the teams shot well (11-for-16 from the field) in the opening minutes, including Rockhurst's perfect 5-for-5 start. With 5:23 gone, Rockurst held a narrow 13-12 lead.

After an even start to the game, the Knights exploded into a 9-1 run after a layup by freshman guard Destony Curry gave Bellarmine a one-point lead, 14-13, with 14:04 left in the half. The visitors extended the lead shortly after on a three-point play by senior forward Sarah Galvin. Freshman sharpshooting guard Jessica Hardin's 14th triple of the season stretched the lead to seven, 20-13, with 13:04 left until the break, prompting a timeout by Rockhurst. The home side burnt a second TO fewer than 30 seconds later after an offensive rebound and bucket by sophomore center Jennifer Smith made the score 22-13 Bellarmine, with 12:35 remaining.

The teams traded buckets for the rest of the half, maintaining a lead on the Hawks as Bellarmine continued to assert it's dominance on the inside. Bellarmine's largest lead of the game, 38-28, came on two great back-to-back post moves by junior forward Morgan Clemons and senior forward Kelsy Lamb, with 4:28 until halftime.

Bellarmine won the points in the paint battle 34-16 over Rockhurst, and with the Knights' 24 offensive rebounds, BU put back in 30 second chance points to just three second chance points on eight offensive boards for the Hawks. The visitors also had 21 points off turnovers to Rockhurst's 13.

Despite Rockhurst (5-6, 0-3 GLVC) cutting into the Bellarmine lead at the end of the first half, a three-pointer by senior guard Therese Montano sent the Knights to the locker room up 42-37.

The Knights finished the game 24-for-60 (40.0 percent) from the field, 5-for-15 (33.3 percent) from downtown, and 23-for-38 from the free throw line. Rockhurst shot 20-for-43 (46.5 percent), 9-for-17 (52.9 percent) on three-pointers and shot well from the charity stripe, knocking down 25 of their 33 attempts.

The Knights out-rebounded Rockhurst 44-30 and pulled down 24 offensive boards. They lead the conference with their 17.6 offensive rebounds a game.

Freshman guard Mackenzie Martinez had 12 points on 3-for-4 shooting (6-for-10 from the line), and a career-high seven steals, which ties the GLVC individual high this season. Montano had 10 points and was 7-for-8 from the line and sophomore guard Mariah Gador had six points and a game-high 10 rebounds for the Knights.

Rockhurst freshman guard Mary Dineen scored 31 of the Hawks' 74 points, on 8-for-18 shooting and 11-for-12 from the line. Sophomore guard Lauren Meyers hit four of her eight shots for 12 points.

The win is Bellarmine's first road victory since the Knights beat the University of Indianapolis, 75-72, on Jan. 26, 2013 in Indianapolis, beginning a streak of nine straight road losses.

"I'm so excited right now. We haven't won on the road in so long." said Dugan. "I can't wait until we can get back to Louisville and Knights Hall."

The Knights will return to Knights Hall on Thursday, Jan. 9 as sixth-ranked Drury comes to town for a 5:45 p.m. contest.