Box Score LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Facing a deficit for much of the contest, the Bellarmine women's basketball surged back in the second half and earned a hard-fought 73-70 win over the visiting Illinois Springfield Prairie Stars on Saturday afternoon at Knights Hall. Freshman guard Jessica Hardin finished with a team-high 18 points and senior guard Therese Montano scored 16. With the win, head coach Chancellor Dugan earned her 350th career victory.

"We're fortunate to come out of here with a win," said Dugan. "We had a terrible start and fell behind early to a good Illinois Springfield team but we started playing defense and got the win."

With 1:53 until the final buzzer, Bellarmine found themselves trailing by four, 65-69, to a confident Illinois Springfield team.

The Knights then got hot from beyond the arc. Montano drilled her third three-pointer of the game to bring Bellarmine within one, 68-69, with 1:44 to play. A block on the other end by junior forward Morgan Clemons set up an important BU possession with the game hanging in the balance.

Hardin made UIS pay. After escaping from the Prairie Stars' defense, the freshman rose up and drained her fifth three of the game from the left corner, giving Bellarmine their first lead of the game, 71-69, with just 36 seconds to play. Bellarmine hung on and earned a hard-fought conference victory.

"[Hardin] is a shooter," said Dugan. "She could miss 10 threes in a row and she knows she'd hit the next 10…but she doesn't miss 10 in a row."

Bellarmine (11-8, 7-4 GLVC) struggled early in the contest. The Knights allowed the last-place Prairie Stars to claim a quick lead and hold it through the first 20 minutes.

Illinois Springfield went on an 11-2 run immediately following the opening tipoff, and forced Bellarmine to fight from behind for the final 16 minutes of the half. The Knights trailed the rest of the period, failing to find offensive production and went to the locker room facing a 14-point, 26-40, deficit.

"I don't think we could have played a worse first half. We didn't come out with intensity, and we've got to get over that," said Dugan.

The Knights shot 11-for-27 (40.7 percent) in the first period, but allowed UIS to shoot 17-for-32 (53.1 percent). The Prairie Stars owned the boards in the opening half, outrebounding a typically strong rebounding Bellarmine team 19-12 and capitalizing on the inside, scoring 16 points in the paint.

The second half was a different story for BU. The Knights made defensive adjustments in the locker room and consequently limited the UIS attack coming out of the break. Bellarmine shot 13-for-26 (50.0 percent) in the second half, held UIS to 12-for-32 (37.5 percent) shooting in the period, and outscored the visitors 47-30.

Down by 10, 43-53, with 12:51 to play, Bellarmine shot into a 14-4 run, tying the game at 57 with 8:52 left. A three by Montano capped a run that saw senior forward Kelsey Lamb score two buckets including an and-one on a fast break following a BU steal. Lamb finished with 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting.

Illinois Springfield fought back, and took a six-point, 67-61, lead with 3:13 remaining, which set up Bellarmine's final comeback run.

Both squads shot 45.3 percent from the floor, Bellarmine on 24-for-53 shooting and Illinois Springfield on 29-for-64 from the field. The Knights hit nine of their 16 three-point attempts, good for 56.3 percent, and 16-for-20 from the line. The Prairie Stars shot 3-for-12 from three, and 9-for-11 from the line.

The Knights finished with a one-rebound advantage, 34-33, dished 18 assists and had four blocks, five steals, and had 21 second chance points. Illinois Springfield had 14 assists, 14 turnovers, and five steals.

Montano hit all three of her three-point attempts and all five of her free throws. Hardin was 6-for-10 from the floor and 4-for-9 from behind the arc, for her seventh game with at least three triples. Sophomore forward Sarah Galvin and junior forward Morgan Clemons each had seven rebounds in the game.

Bellarmine will hit the road for a pair of conference games. On Thursday, the Knights will take on Quincy University at 6:15 Eastern.