ST. LOUIS — In an explosive and relentless performance that ranked among its best of the season, the Bellarmine University women's basketball team raced out to a 41-16 halftime lead at Maryville and coasted to a 75-48 thrashing of the Saints on Thursday night in Great Lakes Valley Conference action.

Freshman forward Beth Bowers recorded her first career double-double with 16 points and a career-high 12 rebounds for Bellarmine (12-10, 7-7 GLVC), which won for the fourth time in five games and posted its largest margin of victory this season. Freshman guard Raven Merriweather added 14 points and sank three of the Knights' season-high 10 3-pointers.

Senior forward Morgan Clemons was one basket shy of a double-double, finishing with 11 rebounds and eight points. Junior guard Mariah Gador and sophomore guard Whitney Hartlage both chipped in nine points, while sophomore guard Kelsey Adwell collected six assists. Ali Ringering led Maryville (13-10, 7-7) with 16 points.

The game was scoreless for over two minutes before Clemons stuck a layup. It was an advantage that Bellarmine would never give up, as the Knights led wire-to-wire and put the game out of reach quickly. By halftime, the Knights had built a 25-point lead and their advantage ballooned to 32 early in the second half. Maryville never got closer than 20 after that.

That the ever-improving Knights won wasn't shocking, but the margin of victory was relatively stunning. Maryville entered the game tied for third in the GLVC West. The Saints carried the third-highest scoring offense in the league, but BU harassed the Saints into 19 turnovers and squeezed them into 24 points below their season average.

Bellarmine's defense asserted itself from the outset, limiting Maryville to 6-for-29 shooting (20.7 percent) in the first half. Meanwhile, the Knights shot 44.7 percent against the GLVC's top field-goal percentage defense before halftime, which included knocking down five 3-pointers.

Two of those trifectas came from Bowers to bookend a 13-2 run over a five-minute span that increased Bellarmine's lead to 23-9. It was a sign of things to come, as Merriweather, Gador and Hartlage each buried a triple in a 15-2 burst to close the first half. The Knights shut out the Saints over the final 4:40 leading into the intermission.

The second half was merely a formality. Merriweather drilled a pair of 3-pointers and sophomore guard Destony Curry added another as the Knights rattled off an 11-2 run and led by 32 less than three minutes into the period.

Bellarmine plays at 2 p.m. (ET) Saturday at Missouri-St. Louis.

BOX SCORE (HTM)