ROLLA, Mo. — Freshman guard Raven Merriweather scored a career-high 17 points and made several key plays down the stretch to lead the Bellarmine University women's basketball team to a tough 65-61 victory over Missouri S&T on Thursday night at the Gale Bullman Multi-Purpose Building.

Bellarmine didn't clinch the victory until sophomore forward Kelsey Adwell sank two free throws with 6 seconds left to make it a two-possession game. The Knights (8-3 overall) moved to 3-0 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play for the first time since the 2003-04 season with the victory over the Miners (4-8, 0-4).

They did it, too, behind Merriweather, who was the only Bellarmine player to score in double figures. She sank six of her eight shots, including both her 3-point attempts, and stroked all three of her free throw attempts. Merriweather also barely missed a double-double after grabbing a game-high nine rebounds.

With 5:15 remaining, Merriweather sank a jump shot to stake Bellarmine to a 54-47 lead, tying its largest of the game. Missouri S&T didn't wilt, pushing back to within one on multiple occasions, including at 57-56 with a little less than one minute left.

Merriweather corralled a Miners miss, and sophomore guard Destony Curry followed with a traditional three-point play for a 60-56 lead with 32 seconds remaining. After a quick Missouri S&T bucket, Merriweather snared an offensive rebound and stuck the putback.

The Miners got within one with 8 seconds left, but BU sophomore guard Whitney Hartlage sank a free throw and the Knights secured the rebound after she missed the second. Adwell put the game out of reach by knocking down two from the charity stripe. She finished with eight points and Curry added nine for the Knights.

Janie Arand had 15 points and Elsie Greenwood added 10 for Missouri S&T, which trailed Bellarmine 27-25 at halftime.

Bellarmine forced Missouri S&T into 25 turnovers, but the Knights also had 20 themselves. BU converted the Miners' miscues into 20 points, five more than S&T's output on the Knights' mistakes.

Both teams were sensational from the free throw line. Bellarmine buried a shrewd 90.5 percent (19 of 21) from the charity stripe, while Missouri S&T hit 80 percent (20 of 25). The Knights had a 36-31 edge in rebounding.

Bellarmine plays at No. 15 Drury at 2 p.m. (ET) on Saturday.

BOX SCORE (HTM)