LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Chancellor Dugan instituted a new look for the Bellarmine University women's basketball team that she readily admits she doesn't care for, but the Knights' head coach certainly couldn't complain after getting the exact result she wanted.

Normally a squad that utilizes a full-court press and pressure man-to-man defense, Bellarmine surprisingly shifted into a zone for Thursday's game against Saint Joseph's in Knights Hall. The strategy paid off for BU, as the Knights held the Pumas to their third-lowest scoring output of the season in a 61-50 victory in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.

Bellarmine (13-11, 8-8 GLVC) was only two points shy of its shrewdest defensive effort of the season. The Knights limited the Pumas (11-15, 7-9) to 26.7 percent shooting from the field, including a mere 17.6 percent (3 for 17) from 3-point range. The performance was produced entirely with a zone defense.

"I'm not a very good zone coach and I don't like it, but we needed to play zone tonight," Dugan said. "We worked on it all week, and they came out and really responded. It was a really good team effort."

Freshman guard Raven Merriweather paced Bellarmine with 17 points and drilled three of the team's nine 3-pointers, its second-highest mark from beyond the arc this season. Merriweather also had seven rebounds, five steals and four assists for the Knights, who avenged a 61-48 road loss to Saint Joe's on Jan. 17.

"Raven, to me, is Freshman of the Year (in the GLVC)," Dugan said. "There's not a better freshman in the league than her. She's done it every night."

Sophomore guard Whitney Hartlage added 14 points and six rebounds and drained four 3-pointers for the third time this season. Freshman forward Beth Bowers chipped in 12 points and five rebounds, and senior forward Morgan Clemons collected 10 points and seven rebounds.

"Seeing four kids in double figures is always exciting to me," Dugan said.

Before the game was even 1:15 old, Merriweather and Bowers had already knocked down 3-pointers. It was the start of a long-range barrage for the Knights, who went up 13-3 on another trifecta by Bowers and eventually led 31-18 with 2:51 left on consecutive bombs from Hartlage and Merriweather. Saint Joseph's responded with a pair of its own 3s, but Clemons converted a feed from sophomore guard Destony Curry for a 36-26 halftime lead.

Bellarmine cooled off to start the second half and went over seven minutes without scoring. Saint Joseph's charged back to within three before Merriweather ended the drought with — what else? — a 3-pointer. That sparked a 12-2 run that was capped by another trey from Hartlage.

Saint Joseph's never bowed out, pushing back to within 52-47 with 3:07 left. Bowers sank a pair of free throws and Hartlage delivered the dagger by burying her fourth 3-pointer and the team's ninth.

Kalea Parks scored a game-high 24 points for Saint Joseph's, but the Pumas didn't have another double-figure scorer. Parks attempted over one-third of Saint Joseph's shots, hitting eight of her 21 chances. She also grabbed 13 rebounds.

Bellarmine will welcome Indianapolis at 5:45 p.m. (ET) on Saturday. The Knights fell 89-72 to the Greyhounds on the road on Jan. 15.

"These last few Saturdays we haven't played well after having huge wins on Thursdays," Dugan said. "We're a young team and sometimes we're nonchalant. You can't be cool and win basketball games. You have to put on your hard hat and get to work every day."

BOX SCORE (HTM)