SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Despite a strong second-half charge, the Bellarmine University women's basketball team suffered its first Great Lakes Valley Conference setback this season as No. 15 Drury pulled away to defeat the Knights 83-71 on Saturday at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.

Bellarmine (8-4, 3-1 GLVC) had begun conference play with its first 3-0 mark in league games since the 2003-04 season but couldn't maintain that success against the Panthers (11-2, 5-0), who have won eight straight games and are coming off an Elite Eight appearance in last year's NCAA Division II Tournament.

Freshman guard Raven Merriweather led Bellarmine in scoring for the second straight game, posting 16 points behind 7-of-13 shooting. Three other Knights posted double figures, with sophomore guard Destony Curry registering 14 points, sophomore guard Whitney Hartlage 12 and sophomore forward Kelsey Adwell 10.

Drury led the game from start to finish, building a 16-point lead in the first half before owning a 40-25 halftime advantage. The Panthers asserted themselves on the glass, outrebounding the Knights 28-16 before the intermission and grabbing 10 offensive boards. In addition, BU only shot 30 percent before the break while Drury knocked down 10 of 12 from the charity stripe, helping to account for the Knights' large deficit.

"When you play a nationally ranked opponent on their home court, you have to make sure you're tougher, and in the first half we weren't," BU Coach Chancellor Dugan said. "In the second half, we showed fight, but it was too late."

Indeed, after trailing 63-44 with 10:48 left in the second half, Bellarmine rallied back behind a 12-1 surge. On the strength of a 3-pointer by Hartlage, baskets by Adwell and Merriweather and five points from freshman forward Beth Bowers, the Knights trimmed their deficit to only eight with 6:39 left.

Ultimately, the 6-0 run by Drury that followed turned back Bellarmine, but the Knights managed to outscore the Panthers 46-43 in the second half behind 53.3 percent shooting from the floor.

"We need to build on this and maintain the intensity we had in the second half," Dugan said. "We knew this was going to be a tough task for us coming in here, but I think it showed where we are and what we've got to do. We're not far off."

Annie Armstrong had 19 points, Sanayika Shields added 14 and Shelby White 12 for Drury, which held a 22-5 advantage in points off turnovers and a 36-24 edge in points in the paint.

"We didn't make layups today," Dugan said. "If you don't make layups, you don't win games, and we had enough layups to win the game. It's disappointing."

Bellarmine continues its five-game road swing by playing at 6:30 p.m. (ET) on Thursday at Indianapolis. The Knights will travel to St. Joseph's in Indy two days later for a 2 p.m. matchup.

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