NASHVILLE, Tenn. — After a rousing career debut, Bellarmine University freshman forward Beth Bowers had a quiet night offensively in her second game. On Tuesday night, she was back to making loud statements.

Bowers paced Bellarmine with 18 points, sophomore guard Kelsey Adwell added 13 and the Knights dominated the boards in the second half of a 72-60 victory over Trevecca Nazarene at Trojan Fieldhouse in BU's road opener.

Bowers sank 7-of-8 shots from the field for Bellarmine (2-1), including both her 3-point attempts. She has led the Knights in scoring in two of the team's three games, opening with a 20-point effort against North Alabama before being limited to two points against Cedarville and bouncing back in a big way against Trevecca Nazarene. Behind her accurate touch, BU shot 51.9 percent in the second half against the Trojans (1-3).

"She's just so fast and has great hands," BU Coach Chancellor Dugan said of Bowers. "She can really finish."

After scoring three points apiece over her first two games, Adwell posted her first double-digit effort with 13 points as she also canned a pair of 3-pointers. Sophomore guard Destony Curry added 10 points, senior forward Morgan Clemons chipped in nine and seven rebounds, and junior guard Mackenzie Martinez continued her pattern of loading the stat sheet with seven points, a game-high six assists to just one turnover and six rebounds.

Christina Curtner equaled Bowers for game-high honors with 18 points and Kaci Britt Bell had 17 for Trevecca Nazarene, which took a 34-32 halftime lead. The Trojans outrebounded Bellarmine by nine in the first half and held the Knights to 32.5 percent shooting.

Bellarmine flipped the script in the second half. First and foremost, the Knights were much more assertive on the boards, grabbing 17 more rebounds than the Trojans after halftime. BU also stifled Trevecca Nazarene's offense, holding the Trojans to just 23.5 percent shooting in the second half.

"I liked our intensity on defense," Dugan said. "We just can't have the lulls and leave shooters open. I thought we did a much better job defensively in the second half and a much better job on the glass. I like the turnaround."

After trailing by two at halftime, Bellarmine tied it up at 36 in the second half on a basket by Bowers and took a lead at the 16:18 mark it would never relinquish when Clemons scored off an assist from Martinez.

A 13-2 run that started about the midway point of the second half when BU was only up one gave the Knights a big cushion down the stretch. The blitz began on consecutive 3-pointers from sophomore guard Whitney Hartlage and Curry. However, the Knights did most of their damage near the basket, owning a 38-24 advantage on points in the paint.

"We focused on getting to the rim and getting a layup in the second half," Dugan said. "We moved the ball and shared it a lot."

Bellarmine will compete this weekend in the USI Thanksgiving Classic in Evansville, Indiana. The Knights will take on Newberry at 3:30 p.m. (ET) on Saturday and Harris Stowe State at 1 p.m. (ET) on Sunday.

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