LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Bellarmine University women's basketball team couldn't quite match the best start in program history, but the Knights came very close Saturday at Knights Hall.

In what became a de facto free throw shooting contest in the fourth quarter, the Knights suffered their first loss of the season as the Hawks inched ahead at the charity stripe and BU missed a few critical chances in an 83-75 setback in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.

Bellarmine (11-1, 5-1 GLVC) was aiming to duplicate the 1991-92 team's 12-0 mark for best beginning to a season in program history. The Knights were edged by a 19th-ranked Quincy squad that improved to 15-1 overall and 6-1 in league play. The Hawks are the GLVC West leaders while BU trails only Lewis in the East.

Sophomore guard Raven Merriweather paced Bellarmine with 14 points, junior forward Sarah Galvin notched a double-double with 13 and 15 rebounds, junior guard Destony Curry chipped in 12 points and junior guard Whitney Hartlage added 10.

While Bellarmine sank 11 3-pointers on Thursday and Quincy drilled 14 in its outing, free throw shooting ultimately became the story of Saturday's game. Between the two teams, there were a whopping 75 attempted in the contest. Bellarmine ended up with the better percentage (22 of 31, 71 percent), but Quincy had the higher total and number of makes (29 of 44, 65.9 percent). The Hawks had 33 chances at the charity stripe in the second half, while the Knights accumulated 25. In the fourth quarter alone, the teams combined to shoot 41 free throws — Quincy 22 and BU 19.

Unfortunately for Bellarmine, Quincy hit more free throws at a critical juncture.

With 3:29 left, the Knights led 70-67 on a Galvin layup, but that's the last advantage BU would hold. Quincy countered with the game's 11th tie when Kara Gerbus converted a traditional three-point play and gained the lead on two free throws by Maggie Cunningham.

Quincy added its eighth straight successful free throw on a shot by Carly Beebe for a 73-70 lead with 2:32 left. Bellarmine missed an open 3-pointer to tie and then a pair of free throws. Quincy's Nikia Edom followed with a basket.

That sequence ultimately was the push Quincy needed to pull out the win. Junior guard Kelsey Adwell made a putback to trim Bellarmine's deficit to three with 25 seconds left, but Gerbus responded by making a pair of free throws to help sew up the win.

Gerbus and Anika Webster scored 17 points apiece for Quincy, Cunningham added 14 and Erin Mennemeyer chipped in 10.

After the teams combined to make 25 3-pointers in their Thursday games, only five attempts were successful on Saturday. Quincy shot 52 percent overall and held Bellarmine to 35.7 percent. Merriweather had three of Bellarmine's 13 steals, which led to 22 points off turnovers, and the Knights grabbed 20 offensive rebounds.

It was a back-and-forth contest throughout. Bellarmine led 17-10 after one quarter, Quincy led 36-33 at halftime and the Knights had a 57-55 advantage leading into the fourth period.

Bellarmine will host Southern Indiana at 5:45 p.m. (ET) on Monday.

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