LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Bellarmine University women's basketball team had another stirring comeback, but this time the Knights fell short as Quincy sank several clutch free throws down the stretch to secure an 86-83 victory over BU on Saturday afternoon at Knights Hall in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.

Four players scored in double figures for Bellarmine (11-10, 6-7 GLVC), while Quincy (13-8, 8-5) had five do the same. Sophomore guard Kelsey Adwell led the Knights with 14 points, seven rebounds and her nine assists were a career high by three. Maggie Cunningham tied a game high with 18 points for the Hawks and sank four free throws in the last 22 seconds.

With 13 seconds left, Cunningham hit the second pair from the charity stripe to give Quincy a three-point lead. Bellarmine got a pretty good look for the tie, but sophomore guard Whitney Hartlage couldn't connect on her 3-point attempt from the right corner. 

Bellarmine threatened to pull off a second-straight improbable comeback. On Thursday, the Knights rallied from 10 down with under 1:15 left to shock Truman State 61-58. On Saturday, BU found itself down by nine with 4:24 remaining, and once again the Knights surged back to force the game to go down to the wire.

Senior forward Morgan Clemons, who barely missed a second-straight double-double with nine points and nine rebounds, triggered a 7-0 run by canning a jumper. After two free throws by Adwell and a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Destony Curry, Bellarmine had stormed back to within 76-74 with 2:12 left.

Freshman forward Beth Bowers and junior guard Mariah Gador both had baskets over a 13-second span, but each time Quincy followed by making a pair of free throws. The Hawks' lead increased to four with 39 seconds left on two from the charity stripe by Carly Bettencourt, who drained five 3-pointers and tied Cunningham with 18 points.

Gador found freshman guard Raven Merriweather for a 3-pointer to cut the lead to one with 28 seconds left, but Cunningham calmly connected on four free throws from there to help turn back the Knights' charge. She was 8 for 8 from the charity stripe. The Hawks made 22 of 26 (84.6 percent) from the line for the game, including 18 of 22 in the second half.

Gador recorded the first double-double of her career with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Merriweather scored 13 points and sank all three of her 3-pointers, while Bowers added 12 points in helping the Knights shoot 48.6 percent in the second half. Quincy shot 53.6 percent after the intermission.

Erin Mennemeyer had 13 points and 11 rebounds for Quincy, which trailed 37-36 at halftime. Carly Beebe added 15 points and Anika Webster had 14.

Bellarmine had its second-highest scoring output of the season following the 96 points it posted against William Jewell. However, the Knights also allowed their second-highest point total of the season.

Bellarmine played in pink jerseys honoring victims of cancer.

Bellarmine plays Thursday at Maryville and next Saturday at Missouri-St. Louis.

BOX SCORE (HTM)